Forget Me Not
by PhoenixBlaze5
Summary: Jack has to try and win Ralph back after he's in an accident. Will he succeed, or lose Ralph in the process? Jalph and a bit of Rogice for the fun of it. :)
1. Chapter 1

"I'm done, Jack Merridew!" The green-eyed, blonde yelled at me. Almost everyone at the party were staring at us. "I've had it with all your broken promises and secrets!" Ralph's, usually handsome, face was contorted into a scowl. My china-blue eyes narrowed. "Why did you have to make it into such a big scene?" I yelled back. "Why couldn't you have waited 'til later, or even, done this in a room?!" My eyes flickered over to Robert, who party it was, and who looked like he felt extremely awkward.  
"'Cause, you'll just ignore me!" He pushed my shoulder, drawing my attention back towards him. "Look! You're not really even listening to me now!" His face was beginning to flush reddish.  
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "You don't need to have my full attention twenty-four seven you know!" I retorted.  
"That's it! We're through!" Ralph growled and stomped towards the frond door like an angry child would.  
"Fine! I don't want to see your ass around me anymore then, you whore!" I yelled after him, letting my anger get the better of me.  
"Fuck off!" Was the last thing Ralph said before storming out of the house and slamming the door. This left me standing in the middle of Robert's living room with all eyes on me, like a spotlight.  
"Why don't you all mind your own bloody business!" I snapped, before Roger pulled me to the backyard, and everyone went back to the party.  
"What the Hell was that all about?" Roger asked when we were alone.  
I growled. "I was supposed to go to some diner with Ralph, his aunt, and uncle, but I said I couldn't make it." I said rolling my shoulder back. "He's just over-reacting again." I growled crossing my arms over my chest.  
"Isn't this, like, the third time you've done this in the past week?" He asked leaning against the wall. "I'm not trying to seem like I'm taking his side, but that's kinda messed up." Roger stated looking me straight in the eyes.  
A sigh escaped my lips. "It's just,... It's weird for me. Meeting his family and all. Especially since it's not even his parents." I said, joining him in holding the wall up. "Besides, I'm doing something else that night.  
Roger gave me a funny look. "What could YOU possibly be doing? As far as I know, everyone else is busy this weekend."  
"Look that's my business." I gripped running my fingers through my red hair. "Let's just drop the subject, alright?" I offered sliding down the wall.  
"Fine, but this makes it sound a lot like you're cheating on him." He said before looking back in at the party. "You need a ride to your place?" Roger asked after a pregnant pause.  
Yeah. Mind if I crash at your apartment too?" I asked, feeling my head begin to throb.  
"Sure." He held out his hand to help me up. "We should probably leave now then, before Robert decides to kick us out."  
I took his hand and hoisted myself up. We headed to the front, avoiding most of the party goers that made their way out side, to Roger's Lexis. I slid into the passengers' seat and leaned got into the driver's seat and started the car. The radio blasted some Mindless Self Indulgence song, before he quickly turned it down. "More then likely, Simon is already asleep. So you'll have to be quiet." He muttered getting on to the road.  
"That's fine with me. I've got a headache anyways." I replied, rubbing my temples trying to reduce the pressure building in my skull. "I still don't know why you're letting him live with you. He's like, what?.. Three years younger than you?" I know it might have seemed rude, but I've known him long enough, and that question had been bugging me for some time.  
"He's just trying to get some kind of freedom. With all his "episodes", his parents are extremely over-protective of him. So they're paying me his room and board to make sure he goes to school and he doesn't get himself into trouble." Roger said, turning into the apartment's parking lot. "I'm technically his guardian 'til he decides to go back home." He finished by turning off the car and getting out.  
I followed suit. "You seem pretty sure he'll want to move back. What if he doesn't?" I asked as we ascended the stairs.  
Roger paused for a second. "He's living with me. He'll want to go home sooner or later." He said his voice taking a lower tone before he went through the door.  
Part of me wanted to continue the conversation, but I pushed it aside when I entered the apartment. Roger always kept his place fairly neat, but looking around, it looked spotless. "Wow! What happened here?" I asked just above a whisper.  
"Simon cleans up in his free time." He replied going to the hall closet. "He's also a pretty good cook." He pulled out a blanket and pillow, then threw them to me. "I'm turning in early. Phone chargers in the kitchen and the remote should be on the coffee table. Have a good night." He said before disappearing down the hallway.  
Dropping the pillow and blanket on the couch, I went to plug my phone up to the charger. It had died about an hour ago and my own room mate, Maurice, was probably trying to get a hold of my about the fight. Just thinking about him was making my head spin even more.  
I went through the cabinet, looking for any kind of aspirin. Finding what I was looking for, I quickly poured out two and got a glass of water. All the while, I could not help but think about Ralph, which ended up making me feel worse.  
At this point, we had been together for about three years, ever since he had been sixteen, and I was seventeen. When his mother found out about us, after a year, she had flipped shit and kicked Ralph out. His mother's sister had taken him into her home. To say she was thrilled would be an understatement, especially since I was told she wasn't able to have kids of her own. He husband was also supportive and welcomed him with opened arms.  
For the past month, Ralph had been trying to get me to meet them, saying that they were excited to finally meet their "son's" boyfriend. Every time the subject would come up, I would either change the subject or say I was busy. Tonight was no different and Ralph had reached his breaking point.  
With these thoughts swimming through my head, I went back to the couch and collapsed. Before I drifted off to sleep, I decided that I'd call him tomorrow and try to work everything out.

**_A/N So this is my first story on here and I hope you all like it. :) Tell me what you think in a review!_**


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Thanks to katherina-E-kora, and daspartanreviewer for reviewing. :) **_

I had woken up the next morning to the smell of bacon and the sound of some sport game. Getting up grawgally, I decided to see what smelled so enticing. In the kitchen, busy cooking, was Simon. He was a short fifteen year old, with dark brown hair and oddly tan skin for living in a place that rained so often. His dark green eyes reminded my of Ralph's.  
Simon finally noticed me and smiled. "Morning Jack. Are you hungry?" He asked placing some bacon on to a plate. "Roger is taking a shower 'cause his work wanted him to come in." Simon chirped happily like a bird. I reached over to grab a piece of bacon, but had gotten slapped. "Wait 'til the rest of breakfast is done and Roger's out of the shower." He scolded placing more meat on to the dish.  
I grumbled and claimed a chair at the table. "Then why did you ask me if I was hungry?" I asked resting my head in my hands. Mornings were never my cup of tea. "I was seeing how much food I would have to make." Simon stated going to the fridge. "If you weren't going to eat then I wouldn't need to open a new pack of bacon." To make his point, he pulled out said bag of pork and tossed it to the counter. "Oh and you got a call from Ralph earlier."  
At the mention on my (ex)boyfriend(?) I shot up from the table to my phone that was still connected to the charger. "Why didn't you tell me that first!?" I said frustrated at the noirette.  
"I'm sorry." Simon said in a hurt tone that instantly made me feel bad. Damn him and that kicked puppy demeanor! "I didn't think it was anything too important. Are you two okay?" He asked oblivious to last night's events.  
"It's nothing. Forget it." I said scrolling through my phone. When I finally got through all the messages from Robert, Bill, and mostly Maurice, I found one from Ralph that simply said "call me". I tapped the call button and motioned to Simon that I'd be right back. As the I waited for him to pick up I made my way to the balcony. After the fourth ring a woman picked up sounding like she was on the verge of tears.  
"Jack? I know this might be weird for our first meeting, but could you please come down to the hospital. Ralph had an accident." The woman was able to get it out before my phone fell from my hand and collided with the concrete floor.  
Not even bothering to check if the expensive case did it's job, I raced back through the house to front door.  
"Jack? Jack, where are you going!?" Simon called to me as I flew down the stairs. Roger could be heard screaming after me about someone better be dying if I left his door open. To which I prayed wasn't true.  
Roger's apartment was six blocks away from the closest hospital. As I ran down the streets, wrinkled clothes, no shoes, and bed head, I got strange looks from people. None of it mattered to me though. They could have drop dead that and second and I would not have given a fuck. The only person that was on my mind was Ralph and they were not pleasant one. Each mental image I got was worse than the last. By the time I burst through the front door, my legs were sore and I was out of breath.  
The old nurse at the front desk looked at my curiously. She looked as if she were deciding if I was here for someone or to check myself in. "Can I help you young man?" She asked pushing her red glasses up the bridge of her nose.  
"I'm here to see Ralph Flint." I was able to get out between gasps of air. "He was checked in here." I felt like my chest was on fire.  
She typed something into the computer next to her. "Are you a family member of him?" She asked not looking up from the computer.  
"No." I answered, feeling my heart drop a bit. Last time I heard that I wasn't allow to see my nanny before she passed away. "But he's my boyfriend." I added hoping maybe that would change things and get me in.  
She looked up at me and her face had the answer. "I'm sorry. If you're not a family member I can't let you in without one accompanying you." Her eyes showed that she was being sincere.  
I was about to break down right there and then until a male's voice rang from my right. "Are you Jack Marridew?" I turned to see a tall man with dark brown hair. He looked around late twenties to early thirties. His nose looked as if it had been broken in the past and his deep brown eyes were fixed on me.  
"Yes sir." I answered politely. He turned to the nurse. "He's okay. I'll go up with him." That's when it finally hit me, that this man was Ralph's uncle.  
The nurse nodded and gave me a smile. I smiled back and walked up to my boyfriend's uncle. "You must be the uncle Ralph talks about all the time." I said trying to start a conversation. He gave a short grunt as we made our way to the elevators. "Ralph told me you work in construction. Do you enjoy it?" I asked trying again.  
"It's ok." He said pushing the up button. From Ralph's stories he seemed like a more social person not this stand offish person. Granted the closest thing to a son he had is in one of these hospital rooms, but still. Maybe a little more interaction would be nice to break the awkward cloud forming around us.  
Neither one of us dared to speak the rest of the way to Ralph's room. They had put him on the third floor, room B305. His uncle opened the door and motioned for me to go in. I did, and as soon as I was in the room I found myself wrapped up in a pair of famine arms.  
"I'm so sorry we had to meet like this Jack." His aunt said in tears. "But you had to hear about this." More tears flowed from her eyes. I wound my own arms around her small frame and rubbed her back in some sort of comforting action. She pulled away and began drying her cloudy blue eyes. Her dirty blonde hair fell in messy curls down past her shoulder. "Excuse my forwardness. I'm Ralph's aunt, Brianna." She said trying not to start crying again.  
"Nice to meet you too." I said, my eyes drifting to the bed where Ralph was laying, bundled up in bandages like a mummy. A lump grew in my stomach and my eyes started to sting. "What happened to him?" My voice cracking as I asked.  
Brianna shifted her gaze to her nephew's body. "They said he was driving home and just as he got to the convenience store on the corner another car ran the red light and hit him." She broke down in sobs and her husband walked over to console her.  
I could feel tears running down my cheeks as I walked over and brushed some hair out of Ralph's eyes. He always hated having his hair too long. Dark circles had formed around his eyes giving away the broken nose that caused them. All of a sudden I felt his brow furled under my fingers.  
Ralph gowned before opening his eyes. "Where am I?" He asked trying to sit up.  
His aunt heard him and broke away from her husband. "Ralph! Honey, how are you feeling? Joseph go get a nurse." She exclaimed.  
"Ralph." I said softly pulling him into a hug. "I'm so sorry about last night." I whispered in his blonde locks.  
"I appreciate it, but I don't know what you're talking about." He said in a flat tone. Brianna and I both froze. "I don't even know who you people are, or where I am." Ralph said. He flinched and grabbed ahold of his head. "Why does my head hurt?"  
It felt like my heart was breaking and by the look on Brianna's face, she was the same thing.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hmmm." The doctor was looking at Ralph's charts. "It seems that he bruised his brain in the accident. It doesn't look too bad so there's a possibility of him getting his memories back, but I recommend you not trying to jump start them. Let him work on it himself." He said placing his clipboard on the circular desk. "But other then that, make sure he takes it easy and he can go home. I'll get you a prescription for his painkillers."  
As he walked of I let out a sigh. Brianna placed a hand on my shoulder. "Do you want to go back in and see him?" She asked, blue eyes filled with worry. I nodded, not trusting my voice. "Alright." She turned to her husband. "Can you go in with him dear?" He nodded and motioned for me to follow him back to Ralph's room. As soon as we got out of earshot of Brianna, Joseph spoke. "Please excuse me." I looked at him confused. "I haven't been very hospitable. It's just..." I could see his jaw tense.  
"I understand." I said my voice cracking. "I haven't been the most welcoming either." I could feel my hands beginning to shake. A dry laugh escaped my lips. "I was actually scared to meet both of you. I thought you wouldn't approve of me, like his mother." I admitted as I started wringing my hands. Joseph stopped me before I could reach for the door.  
"You don't need to worry about that happening. Brianna and I support Ralph in all his decision, even if we don't exactly agree with them." His brown eyes were drilling into my blue ones. It wasn't in a threatening way though, more like, he was trying to make sure I understood. It made me wonder how I could feel that way in the first place. "Besides, you seem like a fair man so far."  
I could feel my neck get hot from embarrassment. "Thank you, sir." He nodded and opened the door for me. "Aren't you coming in?" I asked as I walked through the door.  
He shook his head. "I've got to see to the Mrs. Make sure she's not crumbling." He looked to Ralph then back to be. "Besides, I think you need a little alone time with him." Joseph said before letting the door close.  
"Hello?" Ralph's voice rang from behind me.  
I turned around and put a smile on my face. "Hi." I said walking over to the empty chair beside his bed. "I'm Jack." I sat down and held my hand out.  
Ralph took my hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you." He said shifting his position. "Are you with the couple that was in here earlier?" He asked.  
"Not really. I just met them myself." I said truthfully. "They're actually your aunt and uncle." I almost kicked myself after I said it. He just looked at my as if I was crazy.  
"Okay." He said skeptically. "Then why are you here? Are you like a school mate or something?" He asked crossing his arms over his lap and cocking an eyebrow.  
I bit my lip. "We use to be in high school, but we go to different universities now." I said leaning forward, resting my elbows on my knees. "You're on an athletic scholarship, and are going for a history degree." I informed him. Ralph winced and started rubbing his temples. I decided I should stop there. "That's just what your aunt and uncle told me." I said covering my ass.  
"Why would they tell you that?" He ran his finger through his hair, pulling it back out of his face. "Ugh! I need a haircut!" Ralph grew extremely frustrated. He dropped his hands back on to the bed. "When are my parents coming to get me?" He asked angrily.  
I didn't know what to tell him. They told me, because I'm your boyfriend and your parents won't be showing up EVER, because they hate gays? No way would they let me tell him that! "I guess they just wanted an excuse to talk about you." I lied giving a fake laugh. "They said you've been living with them for the past few years." I said concentrating on the discoloring and scratches that were scattered across his face.  
He still looked weary of me, but decided to trust me. "Okay, fine. One more question for you." Ralph said messing with his IV. "Why do you look like such a mess!?" He gestured to my appearance. "You don't even have shoes on!" He gripped like a nagging mother.  
I blinked a few times from shock then looked to my feet. "About that..." I wiggled my bare toes. "I was in a rush when I heard about what happened. Guess I just forgot about them in my hurry." I said grinning up at him. His face looked unamused which didn't surprise me. Ralph was never the one to put up with unfinished chores. Something his mother had programmed into and he felt he had to live up to inhuman expectations.  
"You're an odd one Jack." He whispered slouching more into his pillow. His emerald eyes looked at me as if he were examining an animal in a cage. Did I really look that bad? After a long pause he spoke again. "Do you play sports?"  
"No. I was never really good at any, but I was in the choir." I said raking my fingers through the knots in my hair, trying in vain to make it decent.  
"Where you any good?" Ralph asked offending me.  
"I was the head choir boy and sung more of the solos in the school concert." I replied proudly. "If I stuck with it, I might have gotten in to one of the top music schools." I said grinning.  
Ralph's brow furled. "Why'd you quit?"  
I thought about how to word it before I responded. "A friend of mind helped me to realize that it wasn't what I wanted to do with my life. I was just doing it 'cause it made my mom proud." I explained. A smile crept on to my face as I thought about that night. Ralph and I were curled up on my parent's couch watching Army of Darkness. "Jack?" Ralph asked, head resting on my shoulder. "Why are you still in choir if you always complain about it?" His eyes never left the TV.  
"My mom's proud of me for it." I said my eyes growing heavy with sleep. Ash had smashed a mirror and a bunch of mini Ash were attacking him.  
"Ralph was laughing when Ash started singing London Bridges. "So?" He said calming down. "You always tell me I can't make everyone happy. Maybe you should take your own advice." He said snuggling into my neck. "What do you want to do Jack?"  
I could not help but smile and snuggle back. "I want to get into theater and try out some acting." I said closing my eyes.  
"Sounds good." Ralph said tiredly. "I'll make sure I'm there for your first play."  
"Jack? Jack!" I was brought back from my thoughts. "Are you there?" Ralph asked waving an arm in front of my face.  
"Huh? Yeah, sorry." I said focusing back on him.  
"I said, that was nice of them. What did your mother say when she found out?" He asked.  
"She was actually okay with it and even helped me with remembering my lines." I said readjusting myself. Before I could say more Brianna and Joseph can in the room.  
"Good news, Ralph. We got all the paperwork done and they said they'll be in to unhook you, so we can go." She said, seeming a bit happier than before. "Jack, would you like to join us?" She asked.  
I looked to Ralph, who just shrugged, than back to his guardians. "Actually, I have to head back to a friend's place. He'll be wondering why I left in a hurry." I got up from the chair and stretched. "Nice meeting you Brianna, Joseph. I'll see you later Ralph." I said waving.  
Ralph waved back as I headed out the door. His "parents" yelled their good-byes as I walked to the elevators. As I pushed the down arrow I was thinking about how I would explain this to Roger. Maybe he'll feel bad enough that he will forget about the door incident.

_**A/N: Thank you again for everyone who have been reading/reviewing. :) I like to hear what you all think of it! ^.^**_


	4. Chapter 4

"Why the Hell do you think it's okay for you to just run out of MY apartment and leave the door wide open for anyone to just walk in!" Roger yelled as I walked into the livingroom. "I don't know how you and Maurice do things, but that's one thing that erks me to no end!" He raged. Simon sat on the couch, fidgeting uncomfortably. "Roger, calm down. This shouldn't upset you so much." He said taking my side.  
"Look. I just got in the apartment. Give me a second to breath." I said walking to the kitchen. "Besides, there was an emergency." I said under my breath as I got myself a glass of water.  
Roger must have heard that last part, because he followed me in to the kitchen. "What kind of emergency?" His tone was a lot softer. "Are you okay?" He leaned against the counter. I could see Simon peaking in the door way.  
I set down the water, before just breaking down. "Ralph had been in an accident and lost his memory." I blurted out between sobs. "He doesn't remember me, or us." My heart was shattering right in front of my friends. Feeling my knees getting weak, I slid down the cabinets. I brought my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around my legs. "What do I do?" I asked resting my forehead on my kneecaps. I could hear Roger shuffling uncomfortably. He was never good at consoling, but neither was I.  
Simon on the other hand walked over and knelt beside me. "Don't cry." He said in a calming voice as he rubbed my back. "I'm sure you'll figure something out." I looked up at him through swollen, red eyes. "And Roger and I'll help you out." Simon offered.  
I looked to Roger who had a shocked look on his face. "Hold on a second." He said pushing off of the counter. "Don't drag me into all this. I'll be as supportive as I can, but there's nothing I can do to fix this situation." He stated looked down on us.  
Simon and I both looked at him with pleading eyes. "Please Roger." I begged staring into his dark brown eyes. "I'm desperate." My blue eyes welling up again.  
I must have looked pretty pathetic, because Roger let out a sigh. "Fine, but you owe me big time for this." He said pinching the bridge of his nose. "Now get up off the floor and quit your crying. I can't take see you like that." He muttered on his way to the livingroom.  
I chuckled at his dry humor as I wiped my eyes. Simon smiled and helped me up. "See." He said beaming. "Oh!" He exclaimed reaching into his pants' pocket. "Your phone was on the balcony." Simon handed it to me. "The screen was cracked, but it still works."  
I looked it over then unlocked it. A picture of Ralph and me making goofy faces looked back at me mockingly. Like Simon said there was a huge crack over Ralph's face. "Thanks Simon." I said choking back a sob. I decided I should head back to my apartment so I could lock myself away for a bit and get my head straight. "Roger." I heard a grunt in response. "Do you mind diving me to my place?" I asked going to collect my shoes.  
"Yeah. Give me a second." Roger said turning off the TV. I slipped on my shoes as Roger pocketed his phone. "Maurice just texted me asking where you were, and to answer his texts if you're with me." He said walking towards the front door.  
I rolled my eyes and scrawled to my text inbox. The last message from Maurice said "Jack 4 the luv of Christ! Answer me!" I typed in "On my way home." and hit send. I nodded to Roger and we went down stairs to his car. As soon as I got in, my phone vibrated. I unlocked it to another text from Maurice. "K. I'll b outside when you get here." I slammed my head backwards in frustration.  
"What?" Roger asked at a stop light.  
"Maurice says he'll be waiting for me outside." I replied rubbing my numb eyes. "Hope you're okay with getting a face full of the Energizer Bunny soon." I said sarcastically. From the corner of my eye, I could see him biting his lip. Turning my head towards him, I could get a better view of his flustered face. "What's your problem?" I asked.  
"Nothing." He responded a little too quickly. "He just makes me uncomfortable sometimes." His face looked as if it had a sunburn. "I don't know how you can live with him?" Roger asked in a defensive way.  
I raised my eyebrow skeptically, but decided to ignore it. "He can be chill when he wants to be. Besides, I was usually out with Ralph if I wasn't at work or school." I said turning to the window. The car got quiet afterwards and remained like that until we got to my apartment.  
Maurice stayed true to his word and was standing outside, door wide open, standing in a plain white tee and jeans. I could not help but feel embarrassed. This only proved that Roger was right about our place earlier. "Jack!" Maurice said jogging up to the car. "Where have you been, dude?" He asked as I got out of the car. "Hey Roger!" He said, a huge grin on his face as he waved to Roger. Roger gave a half-hearted wave and pulled out his phone. It was obvious he was trying to ignore the wavy haired brunette. Maurice didn't seem to notice and shut the car door. "Well?" He asked again.  
"I'll tell you when we get inside." I said through gritted teeth. "Catch you later, Roger." I said as I headed to the open door and he drove off. "Next time Maurice, shut the bloody door." I growled hearing Maurice enter the room. The door clicked, signaling it had been closed.  
"What's got your knickers in a knot?" He asked parking his rear on the couch.  
"Ralph doesn't remember me." I stated flatly as I kicked off my shoes.  
Maurice busted out laughing. "No really. What's up?" He asked again holding his side. "You two have gone out for three years. There is no way he could forget you." I said calming down.  
I felt anger building up in my gut, and I am surprised I did not punch his teeth in. "He got in a car crash and got amnesia. Ralph doesn't remember anything about our relationship, or even that his mom kicked him out and he's living with his aunt." I yelled, wiping the grin off his face.  
"What?! Seriously?!" Maurice's light chocolate eyes were the size of dinner plates. "Holy shit dude." His voice level dropped a bit. I'm sorry Jack. If I'd known I wouldn't have texted you so much." He apologized.  
I shook my head resting it against the hall wall. "I didn't have my phone on me so I didn't get any of them anyways." I could sense Maurice was about to say something, so I motioned for him to stop. "I'm just going to lay down. Please don't disturb me." I said before locking myself in my room. My bed seemed so inviting after the long day. I was almost asleep when my phone vibrated. Opening the message I saw it was from Ralph. "I'm guessing this is the Jack from the hospital. I was looking through this phone and your # was the only 1 that had a name that I no. Text me back. It's nice 2 talk 2 some1 least some what familiar. -R"


	5. Chapter 5

My heart fluttered as I read it. Even if he was just texting me because I was at the hospital when he woke up. I quickly replied, all fatigue forgotten. "Yeah this is the same Jack. How r u feeling?" I sent it and waited for his reply. "Other than confused? Fine. The meds I was given work gr8 :)" I smiled. At least he hadn't lost his sense of humor totally. I texted back. "R u put on bed rest?" Before I tapped send Maurice knocked on my door.  
"I know you said not to disturb you, but I wanted to know if you wanted to go see a movie. I thought, maybe it'll cheer you up a bit." He offered, drumming on the door. I sent my message, then rolled over on my back. "Uhhh. Actually, I think I'll stay in. I've been out all day." I said.  
"Kay." There was a pause before he spoke again. "If you need someone to talk to, I'm always willing to listen." He said. I heard footsteps then silence. For as annoying as Maurice could be, he is just as loyal and it is times like that, that make my glad he is my room-mate.  
I checked my phone again. There was no new message so I decided to go through my pictures. The first one it opened to was of Roger and Bill playing Call of Duty: Modern War 3. Bill had just shaved his head after losing a bet with Robert. The funny part was I think he actually liked it after the first couple of days. They were both concentrating on the screen, their faces illuminated by the light. The next picture I scrolled to was Ralph smoking, a bad habit he picked up from me, on my patio. Maurice was making a face that caused him to laugh.  
A text box popped up and took my to my messages. "Not totally. The doc said I should try going 4 walks. Said it'd help clear my head. Hello! My head is already cleared!" I could practically see Ralph rolling his eyes. "Lol. Fresh air might b good 4 u. Plus u don't want bed sores do u?" I sent back.  
I pulled my picture back up, and went to the next one. In it, Ralph was draped over Simon's shoulders. He had his tongue out, threatening to lick Simon's face. Simon had his eyes shut, trying to pull away, but was smiling none the least. The next one that came up was Maurice with his arm slung around Roger's shoulder. Both boys held up the "rock" symbol and had beer bottles. Another thing that I enabled Ralph to do and for his friend, Daniel (AKA: Piggy), to complain about me.  
I never really liked Piggy. He was short, fat, and annoying, but not in the entertaining way Maurice was. He always looked at my condescendingly from behind his dorky glasses. I never understood why Ralph was even friends with him. He couldn't play sports, because of his asthma, and he wasn't very popular. It just bugged my to no end that Piggy was always talking shit about me to Ralph.  
Angrily, I scrolled to another picture. In this one Ralph and I were laying on our backs, with me looking up at my phone. My arm stretched upward, showing that I was taking the picture. Ralph was trying to hide his face in the crook of my neck. That day we had spent out at the mall, a place I try to stay away from. Ralph had insisted on going to meet up with some of his friends. I only went because A.) he begged and B.) he owed me "one". I had taken this after he "repaid" me.  
Another text box appeared. "Trader! Siding with doc! Ur supposed 2 b on my side! But no, I don't want bed sores. :( God! It's boring sitting in bed!" I shook my head trying not to laugh. Ralph was too athletic to just sit and relax all day. "I'm on the side that helps you get better :).Take a nap. That'll pass the time." I sent it back then checked the clock. 7:42. I could not believe I spent most of my Saturday at the hospital and only had a snack sized bag of chips to eat.  
My stomach started to growl, so I rolled out of bed and ventured out of my room. When I entered the living room, Maurice was lounging on the couch with a whole pizza resting on his chest. "Do I even want to know why?" I asked, pushing his feet off one of the cushions.  
He sat up, placing the pizza on the coffee table. "I got hungry and I wasn't sure if you were eating or not. Want a slice?" He picked up a slice and held it out to me. "It's Canadian bacon." Maurice said in a sing-song voice.  
"Well, when you put it that way..." I said taking the slice. "How can I resist?" Maurice chuckled as I took a bite. "What'cha watching?" I asked, mouth full of pizza. The TV, paused on a clown under, what looked like, a bathroom stall.  
"Zombieland! Roger said it was pretty good, so I rented it." He said getting his own piece of pizza. "It's still near the beginning." Maurice picked off a piece of Canadian bacon and dropped it into his mouth. "You gonna watch too?" He asked folding his slice in half like a hotdog bun.  
"Sure." I said leaning on one of the arm rest. He pressed play on the remote and the clown came back to life. It was fucking creepy to say the least. "Maurice?" I asked and got a "hmmmm?" as a response. "Is something going on with you and Roger?" I leaned forward and tossed the crush back into the box.  
Maurice froze mid bite and raised an eyebrow. "Not that I'm aware of." He said wearily. "Why? Did Roger say anything to you?" Maurice became more interested with my question then the movie, still playing, in the background.  
"No! I was just asking." I defended, but then I thought about his actions earlier. "Although, he did looked a bit flushed when I said you'd be waiting outside for me. Plus, he's really against leaving his front door open, a bad habit of yours." I said, trying to work out the equations of Maurice and Roger's relationship. I looked over to Maurice, who had a goofy grin on his face. "What?" I asked, puzzled.  
"Nothing. Never mind it. He's an odd one, that Roger." He stated turning his attention back to the movie. The grin still plastered on his face. Then out of no where he paused the movie. "You and Roger are pretty close, right?" He asked, eyes never leaving the TV.  
"I guess. I've known him since he started choir in grade six." I said giving him a questioning look.  
"Is Roger banging Simon?" Maurice asked so bluntly that if I had a drink, it would have been on the floor.

**_A/N: I'm sorry that this is moving so slow. -.- I'll try picking up the story's pace so it's not like 40 chapter, or something up there._**


	6. Chapter 6

I was so shocked that my mouth was hanging open. It was always a taboo to talk about Roger and Simon's living situation when neither one was present, and Maurice had broken it big time. "What the Hell Maurice!?" I exclaimed wide-eyed. "Could you be any more inappropriate!?"  
"Sorry." He whispered, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was just wondering. He spends a lot of time with him, and he let him move in to his apartment." He said as he started playing with one of the pillows. "I mean come on. This is Roger we're talking about and he hates any human interaction if it's not with you." I leaned back rubbing my face. "I didn't mean to stress you out more. Sorry." Maurice leaned back with me.  
"Look, I don't know what he does in his free time, but I'm pretty sure that they're not 'banging'." I said, putting the work in air quotes. "Maybe we should change the subject, 'cause this is just too weird talking about." I said.  
Maurice shrugged. "What's the big deal. It's just sex." I threw him a dirty look. "What? We've all done it. It's no secret what you and Ralph do behind closed doors." He smirked at me. "I'm no saint myself. There was Ruth, Josh, that one guy at..."  
"Maurice!" I shouted interrupting him. "I don't want to hear about any of your sexual partners. Also what you think Ralph and I do, should never leave you mouth!" Usually when he gets like this I would go hang with Ralph, but that's not an option now, so instead I went back to hiding in my room. I pulled out my phone and checked my messages. One was from Robert asking if Ralph was ok. Maurice must have texted him, informing him of what had happened. The other one was from Ralph.  
"I've been knocked out almost all day -.-. No way can I sleep. Do u Skype? Brianna gave me the password to "my" laptop." After reading the text, I dug under my bed and pulled out my computer. Login on, I quickly opened my Skype. Ralph was online and I opened a chat with him.  
*Hey. Yes I do have a chat. Lol. :)* I typed out.  
*Jack?* He replied.  
*Yeah.* I sent back before leaning back against my headboard. The next thing I knew, Ralph had requested a video chat and I hit "accept".  
"Hey Jack." Ralph said resting against a pillow. "Why'd it take so long for you to reply?" He asked biting the inside of his cheek.  
"My room-mate, Maurice, ordered a pizza and I went to steal a slice." I said flicking on the side table lamp to brighten the room. "Have you eaten anything today?" It made me a bit nervous, because he has gotten so busy before that he actually forgot to eat.  
"Yeah. Brianna made a pot of soup and brought me up a bowl." Ralph said as he started biting his thumb nail. Whenever he was stressed or really excited he would chew on his nails. So I was starting to feel on edge. "Jack?" He asked not looking at me and picking at his sheets. "How do you feel about gays?" Ralph asked quietly.  
What was it with people catching me off guard that day. "Umm, I'm fine with them. I'm actually gay myself." I said smiling awkwardly at him.  
Ralph gave me a white smile. "Well, that makes me feel a lot better. You're kinda like my best friend at this time." He said playing with the mouse pad. "So, I was talking with another person on Skype and they told me they use to be on the same soccer team when we were in high school." He started. "And he told me that he always had a crush on me." I could feel panic bubbling up inside. "His name is Andrew and he's really cute." A blush crept across his face. "I told him I'd have to think about it, but I think I should say yes." He looked at me for approval.  
I tried wracking my brain for any memory of an Andrew that want to our high school. The only one that came to mind was a brunette with braces. He wasn't the most handsome guy around back then, but I had no clue about now. "You don't know anything about this Andrew guy." I said trying to persuade him against it. "I mean he could only want one thing from you."  
A frown found its way on to Ralph's features. "Jack, why are you being so negative about this? I thought you'd be happy for me. Aren't friends suppose to be supportive?" His words felt like a knife was being jammed into my chest.  
"I just want you to be careful." I said, my eye flickering between his face and my key board. "Maybe you should work on getting better before you think about trying to start a relationship." I was trying to cover up any hint of jealousy that might have leaked into my tone.  
Ralph just stared at me with a blank expression on his face. The tape on his nose looked as if he had picked at it and the circles looked like they were lightening a tad. "Thanks for think about me, but I was told to just go about life, and that's what I'm going to do. Now are you going to be supportive or are you going to keep being negative?" He asked seriously.  
There was no way I wanted to be seen as negative by him, but I did not know how I could go even one day with out talk to Ralph. Sure we fought and had pissed one another off, but, in my mind, the good times out weighed the bad. Man, do I sound sappy. "Okay." I finally said.  
"Thank you." He said, a warm smile was now on his face. "I'll message him later." Ralph took a second to look at his phone. "Do you have a boyfriend?" He asked not looking up from his phone.  
"Not I could hear the sadness in my voice. It made me sick letting Ralph hear it. "A recent situation has caused us to split up." The way I worded it was to lessen the emotional blow I suffered.  
His eyes filled with sympathy. "I'm sorry. If it helps any, from what I know of you, you're a good guy and can find someone new in no time." I know he was trying to make me feel better, but it just made me angry. I just blew up at him. "It's not that easy! I had been with him for years! He was one of the best things in my life!" I could feel my face heat up as I yelled. "He's moving on without me and he seems like he couldn't be happier! Now I have to act like I'm okay with it, because why should I mess up his happiness?!" Ralph's eyes widened. "I love him so much that I'm willing to feel like shit for him! Does that sound like I want someone new?!" I paused to let in all sink in. All the pain and betrayal I was feeling. Ralph was frozen in fear. "Have a nice night Ralph." I said before logging off. Placing my laptop back under my bed, I laid down and cried myself to sleep for the first time in year.

_**A/N: Just want to say thank you to my readers and especially to Annalise12, Nadia, and Katherine-E-kora who reviewed. :) You all rule!**_

_**Also, the next chapter might be later then the rest with all my classes dropping projects on me at once. -.- **_


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning I heard a loud knock on my bedroom door. I rolled over covering my head with my pillow, but the noise continued. Could I not have just one day to lay in bed and pity myself. "What?!" I finally yelled.  
"Hey. If you didn't want me to try to "help" you then you shouldn't have made that ridiculous face." Roger's stern voice said from the other side of the door. I sprang up and opened the door. "Whoa." He said looking me up and down. "Did you sleep in those clothes AGAIN?" He asked giving me a dirty look. "That's just nasty man."  
I glared at him and went to my closet to grab some other clothes. "Did you just come here to get on to me about my hygiene?" I spat bitterly. "Give me a break." I said pulling out some ripped jeans and an old Good Charlotte shirt. "I just found out that Ralph might have a "new boyfriend". Some guy named Andrew that went to our high school." I said becoming more upset.  
Roger plopped down on the corner of my bed. "Really?!" He said surprised. "That was fast. How did was he able to talk to Andrew? I know they were on the same soccer team, but Hell, he can't even remember his own boyfriend." "His aunt gave him the password to his computer and I guess they started talking on Skype." I said as I headed out my door. "I'm going to take a quick shower. Be right back." Roger gave me a thumbs up before falling backwards on to my, unmade, bed. I made my way to the bathroom, strangely enough, without see Maurice once. It made the place seem a bit off, but I shrugged it off and took my shower. With the temperature dropping rapidly, I decided to turn the hot water on full blast. After I was done and dressed, I headed back to my room to find Roger going through my phone. "Hey!" I shouted, jumping at him and grabbing at it. "Give me my phone!" He just laughed as if it were as game, instead of me actually trying to fight for my phone.  
"Relax." He said pinning my down. "I was just getting information so I can help." I looked at him confused.  
"What are you talking about?" I asked still angry.  
Roger rolled his eyes and opened my texts to Ralph. "I need to know what you've told him so I can figure out where you two stand." He showed me the screen. "I learned that he thinks of you as a close friend, which is helpful. Even if he is going to start dating Andrew, you'll still have a chance to change his mind." Roger put my phone in his pocket and got from me.  
"Alright, and how do you expect me to do that?" I questioned propping myself up on my elbows. "He might be upset with me now." I said tilting my head to the left.  
"Why? From what I saw you guys were on good terms." It must have hit him because her started rubbing his temples. "Please tell me you didn't say anything stupid when you got online with him." I picked at my fingernail. "Oh come on! What in God's name did you say?!" He asked enraged.  
I was a bit surprised by Roger for bring God's name into this. After going to a Catholic private school, he had decided he didn't believe in faith or any type of decide. "I didn't say anything stupid!" I defended. "I just couldn't take hearing that he found someone else. So I just told him how I felt. Granted I could have approached it in a better way, but I let my emotions get the better of me."  
"You always do though. You don't stop and think about how that'll affect things in the future." He said to me as if I were a child. "First things first. If I'm going to help you, learn to bite your tongue now and then." Roger started pacing back and forth. "Second, we'll need to get more information on Andrew." He said as if this were a top-secret mission.  
"I think you've watched way too many spy movies." I said drolly.  
"What did I just say about biting your tongue?" He scowled, before he went back to his thoughts. I rolled my eyes and covered my face, once again, with my pillow. "I'm going to text Ralph from your phone and apologize for last night." He finally said as I felt my bed shift.  
"Tell him I was still sore about my recent break-up." I said, but the pillow muffled me so Roger didn't understand a word I said.  
He pulled the pillow off my face. "What?"  
"I said, tell him I was still sore about my recent break-up." I repeated, then pulled the pillow back to cover me.  
"Oh, okay." He said acting like he didn't care, and he probably didn't. "Now we'll play the waiting game." Roger said laying, perpendicularly, on my legs. "Were you going to just sleep all day?" He asked sounding board. I just gowned. "Damn. You really are in depression. You know Maurice wanted me to try to get you out of the house at some point."  
"It's not a house." Again my voice was muffled.  
"Take the pillow off your face!" Roger yanked the pillow from me and placed it under his head. "Now, say again?"  
"It's not a house. So technically you did your job." I retorted sarcastically. "I'm just emotionally tired." I sighed. "And I have to get over while I'm at work tomorrow. I was going to let today be my "wallow in self-pity" day." I said looked down at Roger.  
Roger stared back at me. "Maybe you should clean your APARTMENT then." He said putting enfisse on 'apartment'. "It's a disaster area." He said scrunching up his nose. "Do you two throw anything away?" Roger asked.  
"It's all Maurice's fault. He has yet to discover this magical thing called a trashcan." I said as if it were unheard of. I sat up, Roger not moving from my lap. "He asked about you last night, by the way."  
At that, Roger joined me in sitting. "What did he say about me!?" He asked suddenly interested. He noticed this and composed himself. "It was probably some stupid story from back in high school. He's always running his mouth about something." Just then, I could hear my phone buzz in his pocket. Roger pulled it out and looked at the text. "He says it's okay and that he's sorry for just dropping that information on you." He read from my phone.  
"Text him that..." I thought for a moment. "I guess just tell him it's ok, because he didn't know how I felt and I know he was just trying to make me feel better." I looked over Roger's shoulder, at my phone. He finished typing then pressed send. "Back on topic, Maurice just said you were an odd one and wanted to know if you and Simon were having sex. You know normal stuff." I said trying to play it off.  
It didn't seem to work. "He WHAT!?"

**_A/N: I really appreciate all the reviews, favorites, and follows. Special thanks to katherine-E-kora for giving me a shout out in one of their AWESOME stories. _**

**_I have finally caught up with my projects and just have a history test Wednesday, but I'm ready for it. :) Any who, more updates to come._**


	8. Chapter 8

I winced at Roger's scream. "Where would he get that idea!?" His face was beginning to turn red with anger, something I don't think, I've ever seen him do.  
"Well you did let him live with you." I said. "Not that he has the right to." I quickly saved myself. "But let's be real. you're not the most social person in the world. It's strange for you to invite anyone, much less a person you didn't seem to hang around with, to live in you apartment." I stated factually.  
His face was still red. "Did you tell him not just no, but Hell no?!" He asked.  
"I didn't get involved. I just told him he we being inappropriate." I said throwing my hands up in defeat. "Don't shoot the messenger."  
Roger began rubbing his temples in frustration. "Just tell him that it's not true. I don't want him spreading that rumor around." He said as he pulled out my phone. "Ralph says not to worry and he wants to know if you're free today."  
"Why can't you just tell him yourself?" I asked annoyed. "I'm not going to be caught in the middle of this behavior. You're both grown men." I said. "Tell Ralph that I am free." I said getting up from my bed. "Oh and can I have my phone back?" I held my hand out expectantly.  
He scoffed. "Then text him it yourself." Roger tossed my phone to me. "And to answer your question about Maurice. It'll be awkward to go up to him and say 'Simon and I aren't sleeping together.' He'd think I was a creeper." Silence passed between us before he spoke again. "Shut up, Marridew!" I busted out laughing. "I'm sorry Roger, but you are kind of a creeper." Roger flipped me off. "Oh don't be like that. I was only kidding." I patted him on the back. "Have you ever met Maurice? Nothing is awkward for him. When I get back to my apartment I expect to hear that you both sorted this all out." I finished and texted Ralph that I would meet him at a park near his house. "And with that said, I'm out." Roger followed me out of my room and apartment after I grabbed my jacket.  
"Fine, but I don't like it." Roger said walking to his car. "I'll text you later."  
I waved good-bye and pulled the car keys from my jacket pocket. My beat up Explorer sat, waiting for me. My dad had helped me pick it out, saying that "an SUV will come in handing when you least expect it." As on now, I have yet to find that true. Jumping into the driver's seat, I started the car and turned on the heater. My phone buzzed and I checked it. Ralph had messaged me back saying, "K. C u soon :)". I chuckled and tossed my phone in the cup holder. Pulling out of the parking lot, I headed to the park. I could not help but feel excitement swelling up inside my gut.  
When I got there, I found a parking space and made my way to the playground. To my luck Ralph was already there on one of the swings. He looked as if he were a peace. His eyes were closed and a soft smile was on his face as he swayed back and forth. Fresh bandages were wrapped around his forehead and neck, covering scratches and bruises beneath. He still had tape over his nose for the broken nose, but the area around his eyes were doing better.  
I quietly walked up to the swing next to him. Ralph did not seem to notice me, because he kept on swinging. He was so serene and I did not want to disturb him. His golden locks flew weightless from his momentum. I finally decided to get his attention. "Hey. You look like you're enjoying yourself." I asked causing him to snap back to reality.  
"Jack! Shit. You almost gave me a heart attack." He said slowing down his swinging by dragging his feet. "How long have you been here?" Ralph asked with a smile on his face.  
"Sorry." I could not help laughing. "Long enough to see you swinging like you don't have a care in the world." Ralph came to a complete stop and shook his head. "I have an excuse. If I had any cares before, I can't remember them." He said throwing arms out. I must not have looked amuse since his smiled faltered. "It was a joke. If I can be so light-hearted about it so should you." I gave him a fake smile. "Alright, alright. So why did you ask if I was free today?" I asked changing the subject.  
Ralph's eyes light up. "Right! I told Andrew that I would go on a date with him." He sounded overjoyed by this. "He wanted to take me tonight, but Brianna doesn't think I'm well enough to do anything she deems stressful. How is that stressful? I mean come on." He said rolling his eyes. I mentally thanked Brianna for being on my side. "But yeah. I wanted to tell you in person and was wondering if you could take me to get my hair cut sometime before then." He asked biting at the inside of his lip. How could he have not seen how badly he was messing with my emotions.  
"Oh. Well I guess I could." I said looking down at my feet. "As long as it's not when I work." I said getting up. "I'll just be heading home then." I turned, but Ralph grabbed my arm.  
"That's not the only reason I wanted you here. I'm sorry if it came off like that." He said pulling me back to the swings. "I also wanted to hang out with you. I feel like it doesn't matter that I can't remember anything when I'm around you. You don't treat me like child like Joseph and Brianna do. It's comforting." Ralph released my arm and I sat back down.  
"Fine, I guess I'll stay just so you don't feel like a freak." I mocked smirking at the offended face Ralph made.  
He gave me a light punch, but with all the sports he's played it felt harder than he had intended. "Watch it." He gave me a half-smile. "I bet I could kick your ass." He said jokingly, playing up the stereotypical jock. We both busted out laughing. When it died down Ralph began to rock the swing. "Do you have a lot of other friends?" I nodded my head. "I wish I didn't have some of them part of the time. Instead I deal with this one guy, he acts like he hates everyone. His name's Roger. Maybe I'll let you meet him sometime." I said joining him.  
"I have the feeling you're embarrassed of me." He said in a snooty voice. "That Sir. offends me." He chuckled indicating that it was a joke.  
"Of you? No. Of him? Sometimes." I stated. "In all seriousness though, he's a good guy." I licked my dry lips. "He's not the most social person, but the people he is friends with, he's loyal to." I said dragging my feet to stop. "What about you? Talk to anyone besides Andrew and me?" I asked tilting my head in his direction.  
Ralph stopped as well. "I did get a texted from someone named Daniel. He said he was my best friend before I got my memory fucked up." "I don't think those were Piggy's exact words." I laughed at his paraphrasing. Ralph just looked at me confused. "That's what everyone calls Daniel." I informed him.  
Ralph did not seem to like that. "That's rude to call someone who." He said frowning. It reminded me of all the times I called him Piggy around Ralph, even though he was the first person to call him that. I had always guessed it was something just between him and Piggy since he didn't seem to mind when Ralph called him that.  
"Sorry." I said out of habit. "You want to go anywhere else?" I asked trying to redeem myself.  
Ralph pondered this a bit, but for a smirk found its way on his face. "Lets go to the arcade, that way I can virtually kick your ass." I nodded happily and we both went back to my SUV.  
The rest of the day was spent rotting our minds with video games and little kids yelling at us for being too old. Kids now a days just can not understand that age does not matter when it comes to arcades. After words I took him home and decided to get some sleep before work the next day. I opened the from door and was assaulted by the sound of something hitting the wall repeatedly. I marched over to Maurice's room. "For Heaven's sake Maurice turn down your radio before..."

**_A/N: This chapter is a bit longer then the others. Hope everyone enjoyed. ^.^_**


	9. Chapter 9

My words were lost when I opened the door. My jaw dropped and my eyes grew three times their normal size. I quickly re-closed it, but what I saw could not be unseen. The image of Maurice's face flushed and gasping for air and Roger above him thrusting was forever burned into my retinas. I was in such a state of shock that I could not even get to my room. Instead I slumped against the was and slid to the floor.  
A few minutes passed and Roger burst through the door, fully dressed, and hurried to the exit, acting as if he had not seen me. Maurice followed with just a sheet held around his waist. "Roger! Come back!" He yelled, still red-faced and sweaty. After the front door slammed shut, he turned his anger towards me. "I hope you're happy?!" He growled. "Couldn't you have knocked?!" I had only seen Maurice angry one other time and it was after he and Bill had a huge fight about one of his exs. He let out a sigh and joined me against the wall. "Well?" He seemed to calm down a bit.  
I just shook my head. "I'm so fucking sorry." I said in a whisper. "I had not idea. I thought you were just blasting your radio again." I was still in a state of shock. It all felt so surreal.  
Maurice ran a hand through his sex mused hair. "I had finally gotten him in bed. Do you know how hard it is to do that with Roger?" He asked cracking up in the middle of it which confused me even more. "I've been working on it for the past year and you just bust in and it's gone." He was practically rolling on the floor.  
I was staring at him like he belonged in a mental hospital. "Why the Hell are you laughing? I just interrupted you in the middle of sex session with a mutual friend. Yell at me or something, don't laugh." I was trying to rationalize the situation.  
Maurice whipped his eyes and propped one arm on his propped up knee. "What go would that do? I think your punishment is just having an image of us going at it as a keep sake." He laughed nudging me. "Unless you want to finish what Roger started." Maurice joked, but it made my face turn red.  
"Man, fuck you." I said finally composing myself and standing up.  
"That's what I just offered." He said grinning up at me. "Now if you'll go ahead to my room..." He motioned to the open door. "...and we'll begin."  
"I'm going to bed." I huffed and stormed to my room, leaving Maurice to crack up and mourn the loss of a happy ending. Kicking off my shoes, I pulled out some pajama pants and changed into them. I threw my jacket on my dresser and crawled on to my bed. Pulling my charger up and plugging it in my phone, I looked at my messages. One was from Ralph saying he had a good time. I texted back telling him I did too. Another one was from Roger and the image of what just happened flashed in my head. I cringed, but opened the message. "It wasn't what it looked like." was all that was on it. I replied with "Well, good because it looked like u were fucking my room-mate. I'm going 2 bed & pretending that I didn't c anything. Night." After that I turned off my phone and tried to drift off.  
My alarm went off the next morning at seven-twenty so I could get ready for work. I dragged myself out of bed and shuffled my way to the bathroom. After taking a shower and freshening up, I went and got into my black slacks and a white button up shirt. I was fixing my tie when Maurice appeared and leaded on my door fram. "What is it Maurice?" I asked straightening it out.  
"Just wanted to make sure that we're pretending yesterday didn't happened." He said more as a statement then a question.  
"Yeah man. Nothing happened." I said running a comb through my damp hair. "It's for everyone's best interest." I looked over at Maurice and he looked a bit upset by that. "I'll be at work for most off the day, then I'm taking Ralph to get his hair cut which means I won't be home til later." I sat down on my bed and put on a pair of dress shoes. "You can get whatever you want for diner." I instructed before grabbing my phone, wallet, and keys.  
"Alright." He said biting at the skin around his nails. "I might invite Bill over since he and I have the day off. Just so you know." He informed me as I put on my jacket.  
"That's fine with me. Just don't trash the place anymore than it already is." I said heading out the door. Reaching my car, I got everything ready then checked my phone for the first time that day. I only had one text and it was from Roger just telling me "good". I pocketed my phone and drove to the restaurant I worked at. I had got there at five til eight and went in through the back kitchen entrance.  
One of the other waiters, Carrie, was already in there working on her computer. She heard me come in and looked up. "Hey Merridew. How was your weekend?" She asked going back to her typing. I grunted in response and went to the office to clock in. When I came back, Carrie had closed her laptop and was looking at me with her arms crossed. "What happened?" he asked leaning back in the chair.  
Carrie was a very pretty, brunette with dark blue eyes. She wasn't super skinny, but she wasn't fat either. Her body type was a healthy weight. Her hair was pulled up into a bun and her bangs came down to right above her eyes. Carrie was not only pretty, but she was intelligent too and she loved helping people with their problems. Because of all these factors, I liked to consider her a friend.  
I took a seat across from her. "Ralph and I got into a fight at the party we went to Friday night. I found out the next day he got into a car accident, and can't remember anything before that. He's now going to go on a date with someone he use to be on a soccer team with and I'm stuck in the friend zone." I paused for a breath and continued. "Oh and I caught a friend of mine and my room-mate getting it on yesterday." I finished and gave her a smile.  
Her eyeliner rimmed eyes widened. "Damn." She said in a breathless voice. "You had a pretty fucked up weekend and not the fun kind like I had." She said leaning forward on her elbows. "Do you want to smoke with me when our shifts over?" I laughed and shook my head. "Naw, I'm taking Ralph to get his hair cut after work." I said resting my chin on my hand.  
Carrie 'tsked' me. "Merridew you're fucking whipped." She chucked reopening her computer. "I don't know why you'd put yourself through that kind of shit." I was about to say something, but she stopped me before I could. "And if you say it's cause you love him and want him to be happy, I swear to God you're dead to me."  
I laughed before getting up and closing the computer on her. This rewarded me with a glare, but it was an empty threat. "Come on. We have to get ready for the customers." I said grabbing my apron and tying around my waist.  
"Right, right." She said joining me. "I just hope it's an easy day." Famous last words of all waiters.

**_A/N: Not really much to say about this chapter... . Hope it was enjoyed. ^.^_**


	10. Chapter 10

**_A/N: I might be putting something else up to entertain the random ideas that as flying through my head. I might not be updating as often on this story if so, but I'm not just dropping this._**

**_Now that that's said reviews are always nice, and enjoy._**

By the end of our shift, both Carrie and I were exhausted. The manager thought it would be a slow day, so we ended up under staffed. I found myself running just to keep up with all the demands that were being thrown at me. It had gotten so bad that Carrie demanded our manager to call in extra help. He was not thrilled by this, but it did help out.  
"That's it!" Carrie yelled as she went to clock out. "I quit!" She yelled for the third time today.  
I collapsed on to one of the chairs. "You've been quitting for as long as I've worked here and yet you're still working here." I said closing my eyes. "When can you follow through, so I don't have to keep listening to it." She came out of the office and glared at me. "Hey! I just clocked out for you too. If I were you I'd be nice." She said joining me. Carrie pulled out my stuff from her purse and tossed them to me. "I think the people at table eight made me pop a blood vessel." She said, eye twitching.  
"Maybe you can sue them." I said rubbing my eyes in my palm. "Did you see that one kid at table three who was throwing food? I wanted to tell his parents to take him to the bathroom and hit him." Carrie laughed. "Really? When was the last time you got hit? From what I've heard of your family they didn't dare lay a hand on their precious son." She mocked me in a baby voice. "What time do you have to pick up Ralph?" She asked flipping open her phone.  
I checked my phone as well. There was a text from Ralph saying that Andrew had come over and he had to cancel our plans. I slammed my phone on the table causing Carrie to jump.  
"Whoa. What's up?" She asked.  
"Ralph's spending the day with that soccer player I told you about and said he didn't have time to spend time with me." I said, disappointed. "I guess I'll text Maurice and tell him my plans changed. Give him enough time to finish up what, or who, ever he's doing." I said trying at a crude joke. It did not take.  
Carrie frowned. "That sucks. You sure you don't want to get high with me and my boyfriend?" She asked wiggling her eyebrow. I shook my head and texted Maurice. "Your loss." She said closing her phone. "What does your room-mate do by the way? Is he a hooker?"  
I tried not to laugh at this. "No, he works at a music store. I was just making a joke about how I caught him and my friend yesterday." I said getting a text back saying that it's all good. "And on this note I'm out. See you tomorrow." I said leaving through the back. Someone had written 'Wash Me' with a smiley face on one of the windows. I rolled my eyes and crawled into my vehical. I was in no mood for stupid people today.  
The day's events were really taking a toll on me and I just could not wait to get home. Dragging myself up to the front door, I could hear some shooter game being played. I entered the living room and saw Bill pressing his bare foot into Maurice's face and Maurice trying to look at the screen.  
"You're such a cheat Bill!" He yelled knocking Bill's leg down.  
"I am not. You just really suck at this game." Bill laughed as his character shot Maurice's character in the head. 'Player two wins' came on the TV. "That's four to one in my favor." Bill said smugly, grinning at him. "Want to play again?"  
Maurice moved to the other side of the room. "Sure, but I'm playing from over here. Hey Jack. How was work." He asked finally noticing me. Bill turned his head and gave me a quick wave.  
"The bloody manager had us under staffed so Carrie and I were running around like fools. Then Ralph cancels our plans. In other words, this day is in the loo." I said sitting in the seat Maurice had just left.  
Bill sat up properly and reached for an unopened can of soda. "That does sound like a suck-fest." He said handing me the can. "Maurice told me all about you shitty situation and I think he's blind if he doesn't see you as a potential boyfriend by now." He stated trying to make me feel better.  
"Bill!" Maurice yelled throwing his controller at him. "Quit hitting on me room-mate! It's just creepy!" He buried his face into a pillow.  
"I was not hitting on him I was just trying to lift his spirits is all. I'm not into gingers." Bill said matter of factly.  
"Gee, thanks Bill. You always know how to make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside." I said sarcastically walking over and yanking the pillow from Maurice. He flipped me off as I threw it to Bill and went into the kitchen. "Good Lord!" I screamed as I passed through the doorway. "Did an atomic bomb go off in here!" The kitchen was a disaster area. The sink was stacked with dirty dishes and the stove had a mountain of used pans thrown on it. Old take out boxes were scattered across the floor and an unknown substance was splattered on the wall. "When was the last time you cleaned in here?!" I swear I saw something growl at me when I moved one of the dishes in the sink.  
"Uh...When was the last time you cleaned it?" Maurice asked from the living room.  
"Last week." I said using my foot to lift up one of the to go box's lids.  
"Then last week." He said as if it did not matter. "You were working late and I can't even boil water, so I tried to avoid the kitchen all together."  
I went to the pantry and pulled out a trash bag. "Then why is it a mess?" I started throwing the boxes in the bag.  
"I had to find a place to throw the trash." Maurice said as if it were the most logical plan. "Besides, I did try cooking one night." I could hear Bill laughing. "Yeah, it just exploded on me. Moral of the story, always let you cook." He said like a bad after school special.  
I rolled my eyes. I wasn't as bad as Roger about wanting my place to be extra clean, but I did like it to be at least decent enough not to be ashamed to have people over. "Next time take the boxes to the dumpster before it gets this bad." I looked back to the stained wall. "And I agree with your moral." I grabbed a dish towel from the sink, wet it, and tried to scrub off the sauce.  
"You're speaking that crazy talk, Jack." Bill called from his seat. "That makes too much sense for Maurice." He mocked.  
I heard Maurice get up and trot over to stand in the kitchen doorway. At this point we were all laughing. "Are you cooking tonight?" He asked, grin still on his face.  
I looked over my shoulder, glaring at him, as I motioned to the kitchen. "I have to clean up first." I tossed the trash bag to him. "Take that out, then I'll sweep and mop the floor." I said the last part more to myself. Maurice grounded, but did as I said. I was about to grab the broom when my phone went off. Pulling it out of my pocket, I tapped the answer button. "Hello?"  
"Hey, Jack." Ralph's voice was just above a whisper. "Sorry again for blowing you off." He said in his quiet voice.  
"It's fine." Not really. "Why are you whispering?" I asked moving the phone to my left ear.  
"Andrew took me to the movies and I snuck out. I just wanted to make sure you weren't too mad at me." Typical Ralph. He always wants to be on EVERYONE'S good side. It's something I love and hate about him.


	11. Chapter 11

**_A/N: Okay. Finally got this chapter finished. Once again, I thank all my reviewer and anyone else who's been reading this. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter done soon. Enjoy._**

"Relax. I told you it's fine. Don't get all worked up about it." I said holding the phone between my ear and shoulder so could sweep.  
"Okay, but I asked Brianna if I could stay the night at your place, since I wouldn't be able to see you today, and she said I could. You don't mind do you?" I could almost see his puppy-dog eyes.  
I could feel my heartbeat picking up and my palms get sweaty. "No, not at all." Maurice was back in the doorway. "I'll just have to clear it with my room-mate." I said as Maurice raised an eyebrow. I mouthed out Ralph and he nodded. "Hold on." I said in the phone then covered receiver. "Would it be cool with you if Ralph stayed the night?" I asked.  
"It's fine with me." He said as Bill came in to investigate. "You want to stay the night too Billy?" Maurice asked and Bill frowned.  
"Don't call me that, first of all. Second I can't. I work nights, remember?" He said stretching his arms towards the ceiling.  
I had forgotten Bill worked the graveyard shift at a convenience store. I put the phone back to my ear. "He says it's alright."  
"Great!" Ralph said excitedly. "I'll see you later tonight. Bye!" He said before hanging up.  
I put my phone on the counter then turned to Maurice. "This house better be ready by the time he gets here." I warned. "I'll finish up with the kitchen and you get started on the bathroom." I ordered going back to sweeping.  
"But Bill's here." He said sounding like a child. "It's rude to ignore him after I invited him over." Maurice said stuffing his hands in his pajama pockets.  
"I'll clean the living room if you want!" Bill called from his seat.  
I turned and smiled at Maurice who had now been slouching in the doorway. "Really Bill!? You couldn't just back me up here?" He yelled back in defeat, before going to the bathroom. It's times like this that make me wonder if my room-mate was really a nineteen year-old or a five year-old trapped in a nineteen year-old's body.  
Bill took Maurice's pervious spot with a smirk on his face. "Is he like this every time you make him clean?" He chimed, getting a kick out of the whole situation.  
I blew a stray strand of hair out of my eyes. "No, he's just upset that you're, in a way, taking my side. He feels betrayed." I muttered. "Are you really willing to clean the living room?" I asked hopefully.  
He just shrugged. "It's not bad. All that really needs to be done is fixing the pillows and cleaning off the coffee table. I should be about to handle that." Bill laughed pushing off from the frame and going back to the living room.  
"Thanks!" I called after him. Thirty minutes passed and we had been able to get the apartment clean. Bill had gone home to get in a quick nap before work, and Maurice was, once again, sprawled out on the couch. "Have you left the house at all today?" I finally asked after the fifth channel flip.  
"I took out the trash." He answered switching stations for the sixth time. I glared at him. "Other than that, no. It's my lazy day and you had to go a ruin it with cleaning. I hope you're happy." He said begrudgingly.  
I looked around the, now clean, living space. "Actually, I am. It's kind of nice living in a clean space. We should do this everyday." I teased.  
Maurice flipped me off before he checked his phone. "I might be going out later by the way." I looked at him confused. "Don't worry, I'll just be stopping by Roger's to help him set up some dresser." He said putting him phone back in his pajama pants.  
"Alright." I didn't bring up last night or my suspicion, since I knew he has black-mail against me and would not have been afraid to use it in front of Ralph. "Are you going dressed like that?" I asked leaning back in my recliner.  
He looked down at his outfit and shrugged. "I'll change before I go, but since I'm still not sure there's no reason too." Maurice replied, throwing me the remote. "Ugh! There's nothing on!" He complained as I pulled up the guide. "There should be a law against putting all the shit shows on at the same time." He buried his face in a pillow and continued to wine.  
"You need to chill out. Not everything on right now is shit." I looked through the guide pages, not finding anything worth watching. "Damn. You're right. There is nothing on."  
"Thank you! For once you admit I'm right!" He fumbled with his phone again. "Can you say that again so I can make it my ringtone?" He joked putting his phone in my face.  
"I'll give you five seconds to get that out of my face before I knock it out of your hands." I warned counting down with my fingers.  
Maurice reluctantly put his phone on the table and went back to pouting. "When is Ralph getting here? It's boring with just you here." He said waving off my glare. "Don't get me wrong. I like you just fine Jack, but I see you every day and you and I run out of things to talk about." He explained.  
"Why do I feel like you're braking up with me?" I asked resting my elbows on my knees.  
It was then that Maurice got all dramatic. "Don't make this harder than it has to be." He was faking sobs and put his finger on my lips when I tried to talk. "It's not you, it's me. There's nothing that could have stop this. We've just grown apart is all." He was now whipping away fake tear and had grabbed a hold of my hand. "How could I have known I'd fall in love with another? I'm sorry." Maurice pulled away and composed himself. "And scene. How did I do Jack? Could I be an actor?" He asked, a huge grin on his face.  
I rolled my eyes. "Don't quit your day job." I said mimicking a phrase I've heard my fair share of times. "Ralph should be calling in a bit for directions."  
That seemed to perk his attention. "Wait. They're letting Ralph drive after what just happened to him?! What the Hell are they thinking!?" Maurice shouted.  
"No! Andrew's driving him." I said mockingly. Maurice raised an eyebrow. "Wow. Somebody's a little too jealous of this Andrew guy." He stated, patronizing me. "You need more faith in yourself. Where is the confident, bull-headed, self-assure Merridew that I became room mates with?" He said giving me a pep-talk. "You don't get it. This is not like when you just start out a relationship and neither one of you knows much about each other. I know all this stuff about Ralph, and I have all these memories of our time together. Ralph doesn't remember any of it. To him it means nothing. I have to try to win him back without throwing all that information at him." My eyes were beginning to sting. Damn all these blasted feelings.  
Maurice wrapped his arms around me. "Don't cry Jack." He said softly. "I know you can do it. You just might need some help and you know I'll do what ever I can to." He started rubbing my back as I sobbed into his shoulder.  
After I had calmed down, I realized my phone was ringing some Green Day song. "Thanks Maurice." I said before answering my phone. "Hello."  
"Jack, why haven't you been picking up? This is the third time I've called you." Ralph scolded on the other end.  
"I'm sorry. Something came up." I replied looking to Maurice who just gave me a thumbs up.  
"Is everything okay? Do you want me to come over some other time?" His voice had some worry in it. I could hear Andrew asking Ralph questions.  
"No, everything is fine. Now you need directions right?" I asked trying to play like I hadn't been crying a moment before. Ralph seemed to buy it, or at least pretended to.


	12. Chapter 12

The whole ordeal seemed like it took forever with giving Ralph directions, who tried to give them to Andrew, and Maurice trying to find out where exactly they were. We ended up making Andrew put in out apartments in to his GPS. To sum it all up, Maurice and I labeled Andrew as a dumbass. "Could he have made it anymore difficult?" Maurice asked as we stood outside waiting for them.  
"He could have told us to just go get Ralph." I said pulling my coat tighter around myself. The temperature was really starting to feel like winter now and that ment the holidays were just around the corner. My mother would be calling non-stop trying to get me to go visit her for at least a couple of days. Don't get me wrong, I love my mother, but she can be very abrasive during the holidays. Since my father's passing a few years ago, I can understand her wanting my older sister and me there. Maurice took a deep breath and pulled out his pack of cigarettes. He took out one and offered me the pack. "You got a lighter on you?" He asked putting the pack back in his jacket pocket after I took one.  
Digging through my pocket, I handed him the Zippo my mother got me last Hanukkah. Oh did I mention I'm half Jewish on my mother's side. Because of my father being Catholic that was the religion practiced mostly in our house and up til he died my mother had us celebrate Christmas. After his passing she decided to go back to her original faith for strength. The lighter had a Jack playing card on it with blue coloring. I light it and held the lighter out for Maurice, then light my cigarette.  
"You think he doesn't want Ralph around me?" I asked taking a long drag.  
Maurice just shrugged and exhaled his own breath. "It's possible. He didn't move in on Ralph until the accident so he must have known about you." He took another drag. "But then again, I don't think he's smart enough to actually plan keeping you from Ralph." Smoke escaped his lips as he talked. "On the other hand he might be really good at playing dumb." He voiced, wrapping an arm around himself tighter.  
I laughed at that, not because I did not think he was right, but because I knew that is what Maurice did a lot. "I think you'd be able to catch if someone were doing it." I repeatedly flipped open my lighter due to my patients that was starting to grow thin. "He needs to hurry the fuck up." I said in a low growl. "Other then that, I really have no use for him." I stated coldly.  
"Man." Maurice chuckled. "Are you sure the weather's not going straight to your heart." I just smirked at him as a shiver went up his spin. "But, I guess you're right. It's getting too cold out and you still need to get started on dinner." Maurice wiggled his eyebrow at me and I just shook my head.  
Before I could say anything in response, a white truck pulled up in the parking lot. It pulled up beside us and Ralph hopped out. "Hey Jack." He waved, slinging a bag over his shoulder. "Sorry it took so long. Andrew's not use to this area." He said, making excuses for him.  
"Ralph!" Andrew called from the truck and motioned for him to go over. Ralph went over to his window and leaned in. "Have a good time and I'll pick you up tomorrow. Okay." Andrew said, leaning in and kissing Ralph. I could feel my blood boil as Ralph kissed back.  
"See you tomorrow." He said waving before Andrew drove off. Ralph turned back towards use with a goofy grin on his face. I wanted to barf.  
"You must be Ralph." Maurice stated. "I've heard so much about you. It's nice to get to meet you." He reached out for a hand shake and Ralph accepted it. "I'm Maurice." "Nice to meet you too." Ralph said politely. "I've heard little about you." He smiled charmingly. Maurice gave me a "really?" look, but guided Ralph to the house, mouthing "we'll talk about that later." I followed behind after stomping out my cigarette. I could hear Maurice showing Ralph around. "My room's back there and this is that bathroom." He stated swinging the door open. "The kitchen is that way, but you don't need to worry about that, because Jack will be serving us tonight."  
"Serve yourself Maurice. The only people I'm cooking for is Ralph and myself." I said tossing my jacket in the front closet and heading to the kitchen. I could hear Ralph chuckle in the hallway.  
"Come on Jack." Maurice begged. "I'm tired of eating out, plus I think I've gained like twenty pounds." I looked at him skeptically when he joined me in the kitchen. "Okay fine. Maybe not that much, but I have gained some weight." He said, putting his hands on his hips. "Not my problem. Try eating a salad." I suggested as Ralph entered our little kitchen party. "It's better for you anyways."  
Maurice groaned and opened the fridge. "Forget you."  
"Yeah, yeah. While you're in there can you get me some eggs?" I asked pulling out a pan. "You don't mind me making breakfast for dinner do you, Ralph?" I questioned the blonde. He shook his head, causing the hair to ruffle a bit.  
Maurice broke me from my trance by putting the eggs in my face. "Anything else, Master?" He asked sarcastically.  
"Actually, there is. Get the bacon, sausage, and, if there's still some in there, yoghurt. Oh and don't forget the jam and margarine." I commanded as he stuck his tongue out at me. "How do you want your eggs?" I turned back to Ralph.  
"I'll take mine fried." He said hopping up on the counter. That was Ralph's favorite seat when he would watch me cook.  
I tried to keep my mind on cooking instead of the blonde perched next to the fridge. I switched on the stove. "Alright." Maurice set the stuff on the counter across from the one Ralph was on. "Do you want any salt or pepper on it?" I asked not turning around to face him.  
"No thanks." He said and I could feel he was growing bored.  
"Maurice." I said to the brunette that was entranced with his phone. "Take our guest to the living room and entertain him while I'm doing this." I said throwing some margarine on the pan.  
"Yes sir." He replied. "How do you feel about racing games?" He question as Ralph jumped down to follow him. "Jack doesn't play them with me, because he SUCKS." Maurice yelled the last part and I could faintly hear Ralph chuckle at it.  
"I'm alright at them." Ralph replied leaving the kitchen.  
With him out of the room, I allowed my thoughts to get lost in our past relationship and tried to work out how to get it back. The only thing I could come up with was to out due Andrew, even if it ended up killing me.

_**A/N: OMG, I haven't updated in sometime. I'm sorry, important stuff came up and I haven't been in the best mood to write. Again, sorry and I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve and has an awesome new year.**_


	13. Chapter 13

My thoughts were the only think to keep my company as I cooked. If you are feeling sorry for me right now, do not be. I prefer it like that when I am cooking. Nothing is there to distract me and make me screw up and I am in a state of Zen. The smell of food flooded the kitchen and spilled out into the living room.  
"Smell good Jack." Maurice yelled over the game he and Ralph were playing. "Is it done?" He asked excitedly.  
"Yeah. I'll bring you two plates." I said fixing Ralph's plate first. I was about to exit the kitchen when Ralph appeared in front of me. "Hey." I said out of shock. "I told you I would bring you your plate. You didn't have to get up." I said.  
Ralph just shrugged and took his meal. "It's fine. I lost my memory, which means my legs still work." He smirk walking back to his seat in the living room. I watched his backside, probably, longer than I should have.  
"So where's my food, Marridew?" Maurice interrupted my gawking.  
I glared at him them turned back to the kitchen to make my own plate. "Get it yourself." I yelled back as I grabbed a fork. Maurice motioned to Ralph, as if to say 'the Hell', when I sat down next to Ralph. "He made me realize that both of you don't have broken legs and don't need me to baby you." I said taking a bite of bacon.  
Maurice rolled his eyes, but got up, leaving Ralph and me alone for a bit. Ralph was the first to break the silence. "It's good Jack." He commented on my eyes.  
"Thanks." I replied, poking at my sunny side up eggs. I was never a huge fan of fried ones. "After we eat, do you want to watch a movie or something?" I asked not daring to look up from my food.  
"Sure. What movies do you have?" He asked taking another mouthful of egg. I finally looked up at him to see his green orbs staring at me. "Do you have any good horror films? Andrew isn't a huge fan so I won't get to watch any with him." He stated, looking a little upset by the fact.  
Maurice came back with a plate full of scrambled eggs. "What are we talking about?" He interrupted our conversation.  
Ralph did not bring that up though. "Jack was asking about watching a movie after this." He said filling Maurice in on our plan. unfortunately, that required him to look away from me. "You don't mind do you? I was think a horror film, but I don't know about you two."  
Maurice thought about it for a second, before his phone went off. When he checked it, his eyes widened. "It's gonna have to be between you and Jack. Roger just texted me saying he needed my help tonight." I shivered at a previous mental image. Maurice quickly scarfed down his meal then ran to his room to get dressed.  
"Wow. He's pretty fast." Ralph pointed out, a grin making it's way across his face. "So I guess it'll just be you and me tonight?" He asked in a rhetorical question.  
I felt my face heat up. How could I, Jack Merridew, be this nervous around my old boyfriend? It has only been a few days since he lost his memory and I am already feeling like we are strangers again. "Yeah, guess so. I don't mind watch a horror flick." I pointed to the movies self by the TV. "Pick anything you want and Maurice has a Netflixs account if you don't find anything there." I said looking back to my meal, not feeling all that hungry any more.  
Ralph nodded, put his, half done, plate down and went over to the self. "You guys sure have a lot of comedies." He remarked pulling out a movie.  
"Maurice likes them." I said putting my plate by Ralph's. "I don't really watch too many movies or even TV." I leaned forward to try to see what movie he was looking at.  
"What do you do with your time?" He asked, shocked that I was not a slave to the 'magical' box.  
I shrugged. "I guess I didn't have that much time to sit around. If I wasn't at home or with my friends I was with..." I stopped there and just stared at Ralph.  
He raised an eyebrow. "What? Who were you with?"  
"My old boyfriend." I said flatly and Ralph's eyes filled with remorse.  
"I'm sorry." He said, but I waved him off.  
"It's fine." I decided to change the subject. "What movie do you have?" I asked turning his attention back to the movies.  
"It's called The Task." He said flinging it to me. I caught it and read that back. "It looks interesting. Says it's about a reality show where they're staying in an old prison." Ralph sounded really excited about it. "What do you think?"  
I looked it over. It did not really look that interesting to me, but if Ralph wanted to watch it, than it was fine with me too. "Yeah, it could be good." I lied tossing the case back to him. If Andrew would not watch horror than I would.  
Maurice bolted through the living room to the front closet. "Sorry I couldn't stay longer Ralph." He apologized, cramming his arm in to his jacket. "And great dinner Jack." He commented before running out the door.  
Ralph and I just looked at each other blankly, before we burst out laughing. "Man was he in a hurry." Ralph said trying to settle down. "I thought he would trip over his own feet any moment." He wiped away the tears that started to collect on the rim of his eyes.  
"Yeah. I don't think I'd find it as funny if I didn't know where he was going." I stated as I picked up the plates and took them to the kitchen. I would do the dishes later, when Ralph was not here. When I walked back, Ralph was curled up in one corner of the couch and the movie was on the main menu. I decided to sit on the opposite end, even though all I wanted to do was wrap Ralph in my arms and not let him go. I grabbed to remote from the side table, but before I could press play I felt something warm against my side. Looking to my left, I saw that Ralph had moved next to me and was, basically, cuddling me.  
Ralph looked up at me, with those green eyes that I learned to adore over time. "You don't mind do you? It's kind of cold." He said, looking unsure. I do not know why he thought anyone would mind, let alone me.  
"No, not at all." I said turning back to the TV. It took all my restraint to not wrap my arm around the blonde. I think The Task was going to be my new favorite movie that we own. Okay after The Count of Monte Cristo. I just really like that movie.


	14. Chapter 14

Throughout the whole movie, Ralph and I joked. Making fun of the characters, instead of actually watching the movie. It made everything feel normal between us, like before Ralph lost his memory. He had stayed leaning against me, and pressed even more when he broke out in to a laughing fit. His warmth was almost intoxicating and I could not hold back any more. I swung my arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer to me. At that moment everything in the world felt right. I buried my nose in to the blonde locks that have taunted me the past few days.  
Ralph stiffened at first, but then he relaxed in the embrace. "Jack?" He asked in a soft, almost shy, voice.  
"hm?" was my only reply.  
"I think you can let go now." He said, lightly pressing his hands against my chest.  
Blushing madly, I released him to see his face was as equally red as mine. "Sorry. I don't know what came over me." I lied trying not to alarm him.  
"It's okay. I know you're going through a break up and it has to be hard on you." He said looking down at his hands. "That's part of the reason I wanted to stay the night. Incase you needed someone to lean on." My chest started to hurt at those word. How could he not remember ANYTHING about us? About how happy we were. All the things we went through just to stay together.  
I jumped up from the couch, leaving Ralph confused, to go to our liquor cabinet. "Do you drink Ralph?" I asked fighting back the tears in my voice.  
"Jack, maybe nows not the time for you to drink." He said calmly. What did he know?  
"Do you drink?" I asked again, more agitated. Silence passed between us, before Ralph came to find me. Without a word he came up behind me and hugged me around the waist. "Not that I know of, but I'll drink with you so you don't feel lonely."  
"Thank you." I whispered grabbing a bottle of wine that had already been opened. Ralph released me and followed me to my room. "You don't mind us drinking in my room?" I asked feeling my eyes sting even more. "If I pass out I'd like to at least be in my bed."  
Ralph shook his head and joined me in sitting on my bed. "Don't we need glasses?" He asked giving my more worried looks.  
I just popped the top and took a swig. "If you want a glass there's some in the cabinet by the stove." I informed before taking another sip. I held it out for Ralph and he reached for it slowly as if he thought it would bite him. Well, sometimes it does the next day. After he took a sip, he handed the bottle back to me. We drank in silence til I was good and drunk. "Ralph?" He just gave me a disappointed look. I do not blame him. "Do you love this Andrew guy?" I asked.  
"Jack, you're drunk." He said disapprovingly.  
"Do you love Andrew?" I asked again dropping the empty bottle on the carpeted floor.  
"You need to get some rest." Ralph tried to get me to lay down.  
"Please!" I shouted, startling him. "Just tell me if you love him or not!" The tears I had held in all night were finally released making streams down my cheek.  
Ralph just stared at me, looking as if he were about to cry too. "It's too early to say for sure, but if I have to say one or the other, I'd say no." He said letting his hair fall in his eyes.  
Feeling bad, I reached up and made him look at me. "Don't be sad Ralph. I'm sorry I brought it up." My sapphire eyes looked in to emerald ones. "I just want you to be happy, but I guess I'm not doing a very good job tonight am I?"  
Ralph shook his head. "You were doing great before you started drinking." He brought his hands up to mine. "Why would you want me to be so happy when you're so miserable?"  
My only response was to bring his face close to mine and kiss him. It was so new, but so familiar. Exciting, but safe. Ralph didn't respond to the kiss so I pulled away. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was him covering his mouth with his hand. His eyes were wide with shock and I knew I had fucked up.

I awoke the next morning with a skull spitting hangover. Sitting up, I groaned and held my head. A wave of confusion fell over me as I looked around my room. I noticed a few of my pillows were missing and so was a blanket. Then it hit me. Everything that happened last night came back to me like a boomerang. I had kissed Ralph and he did not kiss back. Dragging myself out of bed, I was prepared to be in an empty house.  
To my surprise, Ralph was sitting on the couch, watching the weather. "Morning." He said quietly.  
"Morning." I replied in a horse voice. "Why are you still here?" I regretted that question, because Ralph looked hurt. "I didn't mean it like that. I just thought you'd leave after last night." I said, my head still pounding.  
"You were trashed. I couldn't just leave you like that alone." Good old loyal Ralph.  
"Oh." Was all I could say.  
"Let's just pretend last night didn't happen. You were drunk and upset. I don't blame you for the kiss." His face flushed at the memory and so did mine. "It was an accident and it's done with." Ralph said ending that discussion. There was a pause before he spoke again. "I made you some coffee to help your hangover." He said turning his attention back to the weather.  
"Thanks." I whispered as I shuffled to the kitchen. The dishes from last night sat in the sink mocking me. I growled as I got a mug and poured myself some coffee. "Please cure me before Maurice comes home o' drink of the Gods." I prayed to what ever God would listen.  
The front door slammed open. "Morning ladies!" Maurice yelled in to the apartment.  
I slammed my head in to my arms that were now crossed on the counter. It was less painful than Maurice's voice at this point. I could hear muttering coming from the living room, but I could not find myself to care what was being said. That is until Maurice trotted in to the kitchen with me.  
"So." He said in a low voice. "The great Merridew got himself hammered when Ralph was over." I groaned but he still continued. "And then he want and kissed him. I leave for the night and all the fun stuff happens." He looked over his shoulder at me. "What do you have to say for yourself young man?" Maurice asked mockingly.  
"Can we do this when I don't have a monster headache and Ralph's gone?" I pleaded with my room-mate.  
"Just so you know, I'm going to hold this over your head for as long as I can." He smirked.  
He had just got here and he was already on my last nerve. "Don't forget I have dirt on you. I remember an incident involving you and Roger." I glared up at him, the smirk totally gone from his face. Checkmate!

**_A/N: Finally getting back in to the swig of writing again. Yay! :D Hope you enjoyed. Once again thanks to everyone who reviews! ^^ P.S. to katherine-E-kora, it's fine :) I know how things can get. No worries. ^.^_**


	15. Chapter 15

Ralph had been respectful of my hangover and helped me nurse it. Maurice on the other hand was 'accedently' dropping things everytime I batted an eyelash. I was just happy that I did not throw up. "Well, this was an eventful stay." Ralph joked. I felt mortified. "By the way, some girl named Carrie called. She said she works with you and wanted to know where you were." My heart started to race. I had forgotten all about work. "Don't worry, I told her you weren't feeling well and couldn't come in." He informed me, handing my phone.

"Thanks." I murmered, pocketing my phone. "Has Andrew called, wanting to pick you up?" I asked not really caring about Andrew, but dreading Ralph to leave.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, but I told him I wanted to hang out with you more." He said blushing lightly. I had to do a double take to make sure I got it right. "He was a bit upset, but said okay." Ralph shrugged and unpaused the game he had been playing the past hour.

I felt a surge of pride flow through me. 'Take that Andrew! Ralph wants to hang out with me!' I thought as I went back to watching him play. "How about I treat you to lunch than?" I offered, ignoring another angry text from Carrie.

Ralph nodded, sucked in the Halo game. He was actually do well until some punk with an energy sword came up and killed him. "Shit." He said throwing the controller on the other side of the couch. "Where you want to eat?" He asked, giving me his attention. "How's your head by the way?" He leaned back and laced his fingers across his stomach.

"It's feeling better." I replied, pinching the bridge of my nose. "How about the deli down the road? They make good sandwiches." I suggested, propping my head up on my hand.

Ralph scrunched up his face. "Sounds good, but how about I pay." It was not really a question, but there was no way I would let him pay.

"It's fine. I'm cool with paying." I said getting up and heading to the bathroom to get ready. "Besides, I have to repay you for last night!" I yelled from the hallway.

Maurice popped his head out of his room. "Pay who for what last night? Did something sexual happen here and I wasn't apart of it?" He looked down the hall then back to me. "Are you paying Ralph for sexual activities? Shame on you Jack Merridew. I would've done it for free if you asked nicely." He grinned and shut the door before I could get to him.

I banged on his door. "It's not like that you pervert!" I yelled, but I could hear Maurice laughing his fool head off. I made a note to get him when he was off guard. Getting back on my previous track, I went into the bathroom and took a hot shower. Just feeling the grime from yesterday get washed off made me feel better. I am not sure how long I spent in the water, but by the time I got out, Ralph had changed into a plain red tee-shirt with a jacket over it that had the Union Jack on it. He also had on a regular pair of jeans and black converse. It seemed like Ralph could look good in anything he threw together. His hair was still messy from sleep, but still okay to go out in public.

"I hope you're not going out on that." Ralph laughed.

I looked down to find myself only clad in a towel. My face heated up in embarrassment. "No." I said defensively. "Give me a minute." I said slipping in to my room. I had to find something to wear that would impress Ralph. Tearing through my closet, I was able to find a pair of blue pleated skinny jeans and a white tee-shirt. I decided to wear the combat boots Bill got me one year for my birthday. I threw on my leather jacket with it. I ran a comb through my hair before rushing back out to Ralph.

"You clean up nice." Ralph commented as I lead him out the door. "So I got a text from a Daniel, and he said he and I are close friends." I gave him a funny look, but he ignored it and continued. "We got to talking and he seems to know a lot about me, so I guess he's telling the truth." He kicked a pebble that was on the sidewalk. "I think I'm going to meet up with him tomorrow." Ralph said giving me a sideways glance.

"That's cool." I replied not really meaning it. In fact it made me nervous. What if Daniel started giving Ralph his anit-Jack lecture? Ralph could decide not to hang out with me and then there would be no way I could win him back. Adrenaline was being pumped through my vains and I figured I should just tell him my situation with Daniel now. "He doesn't like me though."

This caused Ralph to stop in his tracks. "Why? You're pretty nice and easy to get along with." Only with you Ralph.

"Let's just say we weren't close in high school and I was kinda a dick to him. He never really got over it." I said putting my hands in my pockets.

"Oh." He said keeping his gaze ahead of him. "Did you ever try apologizing to him?" Ralph suggested. I did not have the heart to tell him that we just tried to stay away from one another. "Daniel sounds like he's a pretty understanding guy and who knows, you two could become good friends." 'No way in Hell.' I thought clearing my throat. "Maybe." Was all I said as we reached the deli. We were greeted to the twin sons of the deli owner. "Hey Samn'eric." I said combining the names.

They did not look amused and instead decided to deal with Ralph. "Welcome." Sam said, or was it Eric? I did not feel like reading their name tags.

"How can we help you?" The other boy said, smiling at Ralph.

"Hi..." Ralph looked down at his shirt. "Sam." So that ones Sam. "Ummm I'll just take a fruit salad and a bottle of water." He said giving Sam a smile.

"Coming right up." He said bouncing over to the fridge.

His brother, Eric, looked at me. "What do you want?" He asked with a hand on one of his hips. This will reflect on his tip.

"I'll just take a chicken and bacon club." I said looking right in Eric's eyes to show him he did not scare me.

"Coming right up." He said almost in a challenging way.

Ralph swatted my arm with the back of his hand. "Be nice." He whispered through gritted teeth. "They're the ones handling your food." Ralph warned glaring at me.

"Are these separate or together?" Sam asked over the counter.

"I am." Ralph and I said at the same time and we both looked at each other.

"I thought we were the only ones who could to that." Eric said as he made my sandwich.

I rolled my eyes. "I offered and I'll pay." I said pulling on my wallet chain to pull it out. Ralph reached out and snatched it from me, pulling my pants a bit.

"I said I've got it." Ralph said throwing down a card for Sam. The twins both had the same amused look on their faces as we fought over who would pay. We ended up splitting it and eating it there. To sum it up, Ralph had made two new friends that day.

**_A/N: Thank you to seerstella, JumpersAndKittens, and katherine-E-kora for reviewing the last chapter. :)_**

**_Seerstella: I worked on the spacing between paragrahs like you suggested. Hope it's easier to read. :)_**

**_JumpersAndKittens: Hope this chapter was worth the wait._**

**_katherine-E-kora: I don't think it's as good as you say it is. *Rubs back of neck* But thanks for that review. :D *Does superhero pose.*_**


	16. Chapter 16

"Bye Sam. Bye Eric." Ralph waved to the light-haired boys as we left. "I'll text you later." He promised.

The twins waved back. "Stop by anytime Ralph." They said in unison. Their carmal eyes lighting up with sincerity.

Ralph was still grinning ear to ear as we made our way down the street. "They were fun to hang with, don't you think?" He asked nudging my arm. "You could've talked a bit more though." He wrapped his arm around mine.

My body stiffened out of impulse, but then I relaxed. Ralph did not seem to notice and continued to chat, mostly about Andrew. I kept replaying his answer to my question last night. 'He sure talks a lot about someone he says he doesn't love.' My brain kept messing with me.

"And he says he wants to take me to one of his college's soccer games in a couple of weeks." Ralph sounded really excited about that. "It's going to be farther away, but he says he'll get me a hotel room and he'll drive me to the game."

At that, my attention was on full alert. "What?!" I stopped, causing Ralph to be pulled backwards. "You're going with him?!" My shouting got the attention of a few by-standers, but none of them actually stopped to see what was going on.

Ralph looked at me confused. "Yeah? Is there a problem with that?" He asked, reading my expression.

I looked back at him blankly. "You're taking things kind of fast don't you think." I did not mean for it to be a question. "I mean, you two have only been going out a few days." I said, backing up my theory.

Ralph gave me a disgusted look. "Nothing like that is going to happen!" His face turned red at the thought of it though. "Is that how you think of me? A slut?" Ralph looked as if that tore him up inside. "I have more respect for myself Jack!" A pang of guilt hit me. "I can't believe you think I'd let him take advantage of me." He lowered his voice.

"That's not it Ralph. That's not it at all." I said meeting his volume. "I was just worried that..." Come on Jack. Think up a lie. I mentally yelled at myself. "...You wouldn't want to come to my mother's vacation house next week." I said blurting out the first thing that came to my mind. In all fairness, it was not exactly a lie either. Every year before the holidays, my mother would invite my sister and I to the beach house. This was her way of bribing us to see her and if I told her I would be going she would love to have Ralph down too.

"Your mother's vacation house?" He asked a bit skeptical. "And where is it located?" Ralph asked crossing his arms over his chest. Challenge accepted Ralph.

"It's on Round Rock, in the British Virgin Islands." I said giving his a cocky smirk.

Ralph seemed to be impressed. "A tropical island." He said amused. "Some holiday trip." Ralph looked me over, thinking to himself. "And why would you want me to tag along? Wouldn't it make more sense to take your room-mate? He seems like he'd like it." I had forgotten how good he was at making people sweat.

"He's already been before." I lied. "And with what's happened to you, I thought it would be a nice gesture to ask you to go. But I can see you're not interested, soo..." I teased and started to walk away from him. Three, two, one.

"Now hold on a second!" Got him. "Who said I wasn't interested?" Ralph caught up with me. "Going to a tropical island and enjoy warn weather and relaxing on the beach actually sounds really good." He bit his lip. "I'd have to beg Brianna and promise to be her slave for the rest of my life, but I think I could make it." Ralph gave me a smile and I smiled back. "Now that we've discussed that...Race you back!" He yelled as he took down the street.

I let out a chuckle, before I ran after him. Ralph, being an athlete and in more appropriate clothing, made it to my place before I did, leaving both of us out of breath. Ralph was holding his side, while I was bent over, resting on my knees. "Best two out of three." I said out of habit. Every time he won I would through that comment out.

Ralph just stared at me in confusion. "What did you just say?" He asked.

"What? Best two out of three?" I said again, making sure that was what he meant.

He nodded and kept looking at me as if he were concentrating on something. The next thing I knew, Ralph was doubled over clutching his head.

"Ralph?! Are you okay?" I grabbed ahold of his shoulders.

He shrugged them off and winced. Looking up at me, I could see pain in his eyes. "Head hurt." He said surprisingly calm. "I feel like I've heard you say that before. I must be going batty." Ralph rubbed his head, trying to lessen the pain.

I helped him up and took him to my room so he could lay down. "Stay here. I'll go get you some aspirin and a glass of water." I said keeping the lights out for his sake. The house was oddly quiet, not that I was complaining, but it did make me some what nervous. I quickly went to check Maurice's room. A note was on the door stating that he was 'socially occupied' and would be back sometime that night. I could not help but wonder if he was ever going back to work. Crumpling the note and getting the stuff for Ralph, I returned to the room.

Ralph sat up and held his hands out for the glass and pills. "Thanks." He said tossing the pills to the back of his throat. I noticed the circles around his eyes had darkened a tad and the bandage over hid nose needed changed.

"How much sleep did you get last night?" I asked as he handed back the glass half empty.

He rubbed his forehead. "Ummmmm." Ralph squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm not sure. Why?" He began picking at the bandage.

"You kinda look like shit right now." I said getting straight to the point. "Not to be rude. Just letting you know." I pulled out my phone to text Roger.

Ralph got up from the bed and went to the mirror that was attached to the closet door. He let out half-hearted laughs. "Yeah I guess I do." I looked up after texting Roger and telling him to remind my room-mate he has work the next day. He finally just pulled the bandage off, revealing a small bump where the bone had cracked. Ralph caught my reflection staring at him in the mirror. "Take a picture. It'll last longer." He said a smile tugging at his lips.

I looked back to my phone, blushing. I had no new messages to use as an excuse to be distracted.

Ralph's smile faltered a bit as he reached for his pocket. Pulling out his own phone, he hit the answer button and held it to his ear. "Hey Andrew." He sat back down on my bed, back to me. "Yeah, you can come pick me up now." Ralph switched ears. "No, but I have a pretty bad headache." Ralph looked at me apologetically. "See you in a bit." He hung up and turned to me. "Andrew's on his way. I had a great time hanging with you." Ralph said going to back his things. I stayed back, flopping on my bed.

**_A/N: This chapter is finally finished. :D Please leave a review and tell me what you think of it and your feels on where you think it's going so far._**

**_windsurfergirl: That's fine about the reviewing. ^^ Thanks, and I liked that part too. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)_**


	17. Chapter 17

Andrew did not seem to need directions this time, which only ticked me off. Ralph threw his stuff in the vehicle and waved towards me as he was about to leave. I caught Andrew glaring at me.

In response, I just smiled and saluted him, mockingly. I watch the truck until it was finally out of sight, before I want back into the house. It was vacant and empty. I could feel it all to start and sink in. Maurice or Ralph were usually around, so loneliness was an alien feeling. I always thought I'd have Ralph there, he was almost like a life-line that helped me through the day. If it were not for him, I feel like I would not be who I am now. Sitting here, alone, just let it all sink in. Time was lost as I search my thoughts and it was not til Maurice came through the front door that I even realized how late it was.

"Jack. Are you okay?" He asked dropping on the couch next to me. Maurice was out of breath and covered on a layer of sweat. He was dressed in our high school workout uniform and a pair of worn out sneakers. I did not answer him and he looked like he was starting to worry. "Jack?" He said softer, placing his hands on my shoulder. I shrugged him off and continued to stare off in to space. "You're really starting to freak me out." Maurice stated.

I decided to break out of my thoughts and finally look at him. "I need a drink." I said and Maurice must have thought I was joking, because a half-hearted grin formed on his face. I just looked in his brown eye, showing him that I was serious and the grin fell.

"What's been up with you? I know you're upset about Ralph, but you never use to drink on week nights." He propped one leg on the couch as he spoke. "I think you might be falling in to a chronic depression. I suggest you go see a psychiatrist so he can get you on some pills." Maurice, having taken a few psychology classes, suggested.

"You know how I feel about that. When ever you go to any kind of doctor, they find anything they can wrong with you, and then they charge outrages prices for a quick fix." I growled. "Besides, I'm not chronically depressed." I said turning my gaze towards to TV.

I saw Maurice's reflection in the screen shaking his head. "You need to do something about this, because it could lead to that. And don't say it won't. I know you better than that and so does Roger." What the Hell did Roger have to do with any of this? "He and I were talking about this when I went for a run with him and Simon." Oh joy, even Simon knew I was loosing! I thought as I rolled my eyes. "Look, if you won't go to a professional at least start going on runs with me. It'll help clear your head and get you out of the house, plus I think it'll even make you feel better."

"What makes you think I need any of that?" I snapped at him.

"Well, for starters, you're staring at the TV and it's not even on." He leaned back on the arm-rest triumphantly as I whipped around to glare at him.

"Fine." I said through gritted teeth. "I'll go running with you." My mind screamed, reminding me of the events earlier that day. I could already feel my stomach begin to turn and oppose the idea all together. "But only once!" I sternly said as Maurice beamed.

"That's fine with me." His usual grin taking over his face. "I just don't want to see you rotting on the couch in the next few weeks." The next thing I knew, he pulled me in to a tight hug. Usually I was against human contact, but this actually was warming. Maurice's problem was that he, genuinely, care and he gets to attached to people. It made me worry about his 'relationship' with Roger, who never gets too attached. That might be why I hugged him back.

Maurice patted my back before releasing me. "Tomorrow after work I expect you to wear something to run in." He said as he jumped up and headed to his room.

I let out a sigh, before checking my phone. There were a few texts from Roger, saying he was not Maurice's keeper, and I needed to text him myself. Another one from Maurice himself and two from Carrie bitching me out for leaving her during a lunch rush. I would be hearing about it the next day, but I did not particularly care at that point. I was about to delete the messages, when a new one popped up. Opening it, I saw it was from Simon, who wanted to make sure I was holding up good. Texting back that I would be fine, I shoved it back in my pocket and retired to my room.

The next morning, my alarm clock blared some radio talk show with an annoying host. I reached for the cord and unplugged it before dragging myself out of bed. Taking my morning shower and getting on my work clothes, I was going on complete autopilot. Instead of actually eating a full breakfast, I made a piece of toast and covered it with jam. I could hear my room-mate thumping around in his room, shouting curse words as he did so. Checking the clock, I noticed he was late to open and his manager was going to rip him a new one.

"Shit, shit, shit!" He yelled as he barreled in to the kitchen and snatched my toast from me. "Thanks! See you later today!" Maurice shouted as he ran out the door.

I glared at my hand for a few seconds, deciding if I was going to let this go or take my revenge later. To say the least, I was going to over look it until I could find a good time to get him back. Making another slice, I grabbed my coat and made my way to work. As soon as I got in the kitchen, I was met with the icy glare of Carrie. Her blue eyes felt like they were burning holes in toy my skull. "Morning Carrie." I said trying to avoid here angry looks.

"Where the bloody Hell were you yesterday?!" She finally exploded. "I was left here with our manager!" Carrie said in disgust. "Plus we had another packed house for lunch and I didn't even have anyone to bitch about it with afterward!" Her face was beginning to flush with anger.

"Whoa!" I held my hands up to direct her to calm down. "Ralph stayed over and one thing lead to another and I had a hangover the next morning." I said clocking in.

Carrie raised an eyebrow. "Really now?" She asked suggestively. "What all went on with your ex held up at your place?" She was now sitting at the table, legs crossed, head resting on her hand and turned towards me.

"Nothing like that happened." I said making sure I was ready for my shift. She did not look convinced. "I got drunk and started asking Ralph about the guy he's dating now." I fixed my apron. "And then I might have accidentally kissed him and passed out afterwards." I finished and turned to Carrie, who had a shocked look on her face. Lucky for me, I was saved by our boss yelling at use to get to work.

"We are so talking about this later." Carrie said sternly as she walked out to the floor.

I took a deep breath and looked at one of the cooks, who was chuckling to himself about my misery. I flipped him the bird before joining Carrie and leaving him to his new laughing fit.

_**A/N: Finally got to finishing this chapter. :D Sorry it's been a while, but I will try to get back to writing more for this story. :)**_

_**windsurfergirl: I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. :)**_

_**And thank you to everyone who favored it and everyone who follows. It makes me happy to know you all like this story. XD**_


	18. Chapter 18

I was glad, but also a bit irked, to have a slow work day. Carrie was trying to drill answers out of me while we were passing each other on the floor. Being a grown adult, I just stuck my tongue out at her and continued working. But there was no way to avoid her when it was time to clock out.

As if she were a lion stalking her pray, she verbally pounced on me as soon as we made it through the door. "How could you get so drunk that you pass out after kissing your ex? Like, I'm pretty sure I've never been THAT drunk." Carrie rambled on.

"I wasn't that drunk!" I groaned going to clock her and myself out.

"Famous drunk statement!" She yelled back to me and I could hear the chair squeak as she sat in it. "Get my purse while you're in there, please." Carrie sang the please.

I grabbed her purse on the way out and threw it down in front of her. "Really, it was just some wine." I said sitting across from her. "It was just everything put together and my brain decided to shut down." I ran my hands threw my hair and cradled my head in my hands.

Carrie leaned back and crossed her legs. "You need to talk about it?" She asked crossing her arms as well.

"No. Too many people want me to talk to them about it." I stated just staring at her blue eyes as she searched mine for any hint of a lie.

"Good, because I've got my own B.S. to deal with." She finally said digging in her purse. This sparked my attention, mainly because it was not about any of my problems. Carrie pulled out her lip balm and began applying it.

"What happened?" I asked flipping the questioning on to her.

Carrie let out a sigh and dropped the lip balm back in her purse. "I have to come up with bail money to get my boyfriend out of jail." She said pulling out her phone. "He had a warrant for not paying a few speeding tickets and I might have had the cops call, because he and I got in to an argument." She looked up from her phone. "Long story short, I need a new lamp for the living-room." Carrie finished by flashing me a smile.

"Damn. That is a brave man who is willing to call you his girlfriend." I said smirking. "Do you need any help? I don't mind loaning you some money."

She shook her head. "Naw, he's been to jail before and he'll be fine for a few days or so. But thanks for the offer." A genuine smile spread across her plump lips.

"Anything to make sure you have some form of distraction from my business." I said jokingly, causing us both to chuckle. "On that note, I'll be seeing you tomorrow. I've got to get ready for a running session." I pushed away from the table and dug in my pockets for my keys.

Carrie jumped up as well. "Running? I had no idea you ran." She slung her purse over her shoulder.

"I don't, but my room-mate thinks if I don't get out more often that I'll fall in to a deep depression and will waste my life pining after someone who moved on without me." I said poetically.

She raised her eyebrow. "He said that?" She asked skeptically.

"No, but it sounds better when it's put that way. Later." I said heading to my car, dreading reaching my living space. Trudging up to the door after I made it back, I could hear Maurice's loud footsteps trotting around on the inside. Taking a deep breath, I opened to door.

Maurice's gaze shot towards me. "There you are!" He was a little to happy about this. "Hurry up and get changed so we can go!" I looked his outfit over so I could get an idea of what 'ready' was. He wore a baggy, red, hoodie and black basketball shorts, despite the cold weather. The same tennis shoe from yesterday were back on his feet with a pair of white sock, barely, visible.

"Why shorts?" I asked, ignoring his other response.

Maurice looked down at his own before looking back at me, smile on his face. His facial expressions helped to make him look attractive. That might be why Roger was 'involved' with him. "As you start to run, your blood pumps faster and helps to warm your body up." He stated stretching his arms. "Now get ready!" Maurice exclaimed, becoming impatient.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going." I shuffled to my room. Digging through the dresser and closet, it then struck me. I was not even sure if I owned anything I could run in. Just as I was about to give up, I found a pair of Ralph's gray, shorts that he had left, sometime ago. Would it have gone against the reason I was running in the first place if I used his shorts. At that point I did not really care. Throwing them on, with a plain white shirt and black hoodie, I joined Maurice, shoes in hand. He groaned, but other than that, said nothing as I slipped on and tied them. "Alright. We can go now." I said getting Maurice's attention.

"Finally!" He said clapping his hands together and led me back out the door. Once again, I was exposed to the cold weather outside. "Since your just starting out, how about we go for about ten minutes then head back?" Maurice seemed to be negotiating more with himself than with me.

"Okay." I said not really too interested. My thinking was the sooner we start, the sooner we could get home and sleep. "Let's get started." I took off before he could agree, but he easily caught up. Man, was I out of shape since high school. After the first ten minutes of running, non-stop, I was out of breath and there was a pain drilling at my side. Maurice stopped and I took the chance to grip my side as I leaned against a lamp-post.

"That's a good start. Now let's just run back and we can be done for the day." Maurice was breathing heavy but he did not seem as tired as I was.

"Can we walk back?" I, almost, begged still clutching at my side. "I'm not sure if I could run all the way back too." I said, wincing when I gripped at a tender spot. Instead of an answer, when I looked up, Maurice was already making his way back. I let out a loud groan and ran after him, not even trying to keep up with him, let alone catch up.

When I finally got home, Maurice was already relaxing on the couch eating an apple. "You finally made it back." He mocked me.

I was too tired to be angry and the only thing I could do to show my disapproval was glare at him. My breathing was still heavy and my heart was pumping so fast, I thought it might give out at any second.

Maurice patted my leg, causing the burning sensation to increase. He chuckled as he made his way to the kitchen. "You did such a good job, how about I order from the chinese place you like for dinner?" The only thing I could reply with was a short 'ugh'. "I'll take that as a 'yes'." I could hear him on the phone as I let my body rest, and with my mind on the numbness, it was not filled with thoughts of Ralph for once.

**_A/N: Thought I'd update before I tried to get some sleep. :) _**

**_IstoleRogerPants: XD Ahhhhhh! No, I just cleaned up (a little .) ^^ Hopefully the update was worth the wait._**

**_Til next update. *Epic superhero pose.*_ **


	19. Chapter 19

By the time our food had gotten there and Maurice had paid for it, my body was starting to feel better. "How do you do it every day?" I asked grabbing the bin of chow main.

Maurice just looked up from is food. "Just use to it I guess. It gets easier the longer you do it." He took a bite of fried rice. "You know, practice makes perfect, and shit like that." He muffled, mouth full as he talked.

I decided to not say anything about it and continue eating my food. Maurice and I engaged in ideal chit-chat about our jobs and new movies that were coming out. When the conversation was steered towards sports, I zoned out a bit. Roger had filled him in on different sports and Maurice was showing off his new knowledge.

"So how's work been?" I asked after he finished.

Maurice scratched his chin. "It's been pretty good. We'll need to find someone to replace Veronica soon, since she's about six months in to her pregnancy." He said picking at some beef. "They're only going to be temporary for now, until we know if she coming back afterwards or not." Maurice dangled the meat over his mouth, before dropping it in. "I hope she doesn't come back. She's a royal bitch, and this is before she got pregnant." He said chewing the meat.

I laughed shoving a mouthful of my food in my mouth. "I'm lucky. I get to work with people I like."

"Yeah, but you have a sucky one other than that." Maurice flipped me off, grin taking over his face. "I get a cool job and only have to deal with a bitch every other day." He said triumphantly.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Whatever. I bet if we had enough people come in, I could pay rent in one week with my tip money."

Maurice seemed intrigued by this. "Really? Why am I paying half the rent than?" He asked sarcastically.

"Because I'm not the only person living here now am I." I said my food on the table. "Plus I pay for most of the grocery bills and, with you, that's like rent anyways."

He started laughing as he got up and took his stuff to the trash. "See, Jackie!" He said when he came back. "This is why I'm glad you're my room-mate. Despite what Robert and Bill say, you do have a sence of humor, you don't intrude on what I do, and when you're not being pissy you're okay to talk to." Maurice stated as he cleaned up the left-overs.

I raised an eyebrow at this. "What do you mean pissy? And Bill and Robert think I don't have a sence of humor?!" I started to become erked at what my 'friends' were saying about me.

"Don't get your knickers in a knot!" Maurice yelled from the kitchen. "They were just joking. Besides, they say worse shit about Roger." That comment kind of amused me.

"Like what?" I asked, still sounding pissed off.

"Just that he's an angry emo who is probably creeping on Simon and that's the reason Roger's letting him stay there." Maurice seemed irritated by that. "Which isn't true and I've told them, like, a hundred times. He's not creeping on Simon. Just because he's a Sadist does NOT mean he cuts HIMSELF. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's the complete opposite." He finished ranting when he walked out of the kitchen.

"Sorry I asked." I said going to dig in my jacket for my phone. "So if you don't mind me asking, What exactly is going on between you two?" I asked returning to the couch, phone in hand.

He held up a finger, motioning me he'd be right back. About, a minute later he returned from his room with his laptop. Sitting next to me, Maurice opened his computer and logged on. "It's kind of complicated." He said as his eyes scanned the screen.

"Complicated like how?" I asked, trying to get more information.

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, never looking up from the computer. "I don't know. He's been distant again lately and he won't talk to me about what happened." Maurice pulled up a text document and started typing away angrily on the keyboard. "He's been so frustrating lately, by acting like there's nothing between us." He looked like he was on the verge of tears, which was extremely odd for Maurice.

I looked over his shoulder to see him on his e-mail account. "Come on. Roger's just naturally a dick like that." I reassured him. "He's not good at expressing himself and he bottles up his emotions. Don't take it personally." I rested my head on his shoulder.

Maurice leaned his head on mine as he sent his e-mail. "I guess you're right." He said pulling up his classes. "But could you do me a favor and talk to him about this." I lifted me head, about to object before he cut me off. "Please Jack! You've know him the longest and I know he trusts you! If you would do this it'll mean the world to me!" He begged me.

I straightened me posture and checked my texts. "Fine." I caved looking at the load of text messages I had. The crack in the screen of it was beginning to get on my nerves. I would have to fix that soon. There were about five texts from Roger wanting to know the next time I was free. Honestly, one would think that after working at a place for a year, with a predictable schedule, he would know this by now. Another message was from Simon asking me if I could just answer Roger's texts already. I shook my head and texted Roger back.

Maurice had put his laptop down and leaned on me, reading my texts. "Wow, Roger must really want to talk to you." He commented, sounding a bit hurt.

"He's just trying to help my with this whole Ralph thing." After I said that everything came back to me.

Sensing this, Maurice switched gears. "You have other texts right. Maybe Ralph tried to get a hold of you." He said trying to lighten the mood. "He probably is trying to get a hold of you and tell you how stupid he's been for not realizing that Andrew is a tool and you're his Price Charming." Maurice said jokingly. "You two will then ride off in to the sunset on a white steed."

I could not help but laugh. "Now you're just being ridiculous." I grinned going back to my messages. "I would want to steal your and Roger's happy ending though." He laughed at this a saw a three messages from Ralph.

'Hey, Daniel, Andrew and I R hanging out 2day, but I'll B free later." Was the first one. The next one said: 'R U ignoring me?' and the last one said: 'If UR made me then least tell me Y.'

I felt my gut wrench at his texts. I quickly texted back. 'I'm not mad U. I was work & then I went running w/ Maurice.' I send back biting my thumb nail. Hopefully, he would not be angry.

_**A/N: So lately, my cat feels I haven't been paying him enough attention and had gotten me up at crazy hours. He's also been jumps up on my computer while I'm writing or doing school work. That cat with be the death of me. -.-**_

_**HiatusWriterKitty: I miss your story updates. But it's totally fine. :) Thanks, and I' sure Jack feels the same way.**_

_**Jack; I'm making 'Death to Andrew!' T-shirts for my club.**_

_**Me; See. ^^**_

_**ImInRogersPants: *Awkward hugs back* Yay! XD RogerXMaurice is one of my favorite parings too. X) That's why I had to put in in here somewhere.**_

_**Terrordactyl: Wow! I'm extremely honored that someone would give up sleep just to read my story! :D Yes Maurice is working the sassy. XD The picture thing was going to be addressed later on when Jack slips up later on. :)**_


	20. Chapter 20

Maurice smiled at me as I sent the message. "You know this could be a good thing." I looked at him confused. "Well, he wouldn't have texted you three separate times if he didn't feel something for you." He explained as he picked up his laptop again.

I bit at my inner lip and raised my eyebrows. "I see." I said before my phone vibrated. Unlocking it, the screen went to the conversation with Roger.

'I need 2 no what's going on w/ U & Ralph. Friday after both of us R off work, meet up my place.' Roger's text said to which I replied with a 'K'.

"So, Roger wants to hang out Friday after I'm off work." I stated and Maurice tilted his head to the side so he can look at me. "I'll try to bring it up than." He smiled and I waved it off. "I can't promise he'll tell me anything though." I admitted checking my messages. A text box popped up with Ralph's name above it.

'Oh good. :) I was scared 4 a second. I didn't no U went 4 runs. We should go 2gether sometime.' My heart fluttered as I read it.

'It's a new thing. Maurice thought it would help me feel better about myself. Yeah, I'd like that. :) How was spending the day w/ Daniel?' I sent, not really caring about the Daniel part. As far as I knew, Daniel could have given Ralph reasons to not hang around me. 'Than why would he invite you to go running with him if that's what he and Daniel were talking about?' My brain inserted, giving me some hope.

Breaking out of my thoughts, I decided to retire to my room. "I'm going to my room." I said to Maurice, who gave me a quick nod. On my way down the hall I got another text from Ralph.

'Awesome! We went 2 the mall & just chilled 4 a couple of hours. Andrew bought me a watch from 1 of the stands. :) It's green! Daniel's a cool guy BTW. U 2 have a lot in common.' I cringed at that. Piggy and I were way too different to be classified in any group near one another.

'I doubt that, but I'll take Ur word 4 it. So Andrew was there 2? I thought it would just B U & Piggy.' I texted back, old habit of using Daniel's nick-name kicking in. Personally, I do not see the big deal about it, but obviously Ralph was standing up for Piggy's defence for it. One thing that seems to be wired in to his person, not any memory.

Deciding to actually do something, instead of wasting time, I collected my laptop and checked what was due for my classes. I had taken a few classes online so I would not have to waste my time and gas money on actually going to the school. This semester I had only taken three classes so I would have ample time to goof off and, to be fair, I could probably graduate early if I took on a full schedule every semester. I checked when my finals were due and what writing assignment was posted for my Writing class.

My phone buzzed, gaining my attention once again. '1st of all, his name's Daniel, not Piggy. & yes Andrew came w/. Y do U sound so jealous? :/'

I bit at the skin around my thumb nail. I had to find a way to cover this up. Thinking quickly, I texted back. 'I'm not. I just didn't no he was going 2. Hey did U talk 2 Brianna about the trip?' I sent back remembering my offer. I still needed to call my mom and make sure everything could be set up in such little time.

Pulling up my mother's number, I hit call and waited for her to pick up. After four rings she answered. "Hello?"

"Hey mom. It's me Jack." I said laying back on my bed.

"Jack, baby! How have you been? It's been forever since we last spoke. What's the occasion?" My mother asked cheerfully.

"Yeah it's been a while. I've been doing good. How about you? Have you talked to Melissa lately?" I stalled, bringing up my sister.

"I've been wonderful. Melissa just called yesterday actually. She was wondering when we were all getting together for the holidays." I rolled my eyes. My sister was always a kiss up.

"That's a funny coincidence." I said propping my feet up. "I was actually wondering the same thing. Do we have a set time and place that we're having it?" I asked, drumming my fingers on my stomach.

I could hear my mother shuffle through some papers. "Well, we were thinking about having it here and just relaxing. Why? Did you have some place you were wanting to go?" I hear her flip a paper over. "Oh and Melissa has next week off." I guess that is when she wanted to do it. "I hope you don't mind such short notice." She apologized.

"No, no. That's actually fine with me." I said sitting up. "But I was thinking we could have it at the vacation house on Round Rock." I was feeling nervous for some reason.

I could hear my mother tapping her nails on, what sounded like, a wooden surface. "I'll have to call your sister back, but I don't think that should be a problem." She started her shuffling around again. "I guess Melissa and I will leave Monday after I clear it with her. What time were you planning of going?" She asked, probably writing all this down. She was always big on lists.

"I could leave Tuesday, but could I also ask you another favor?" I started biting my lower lip.

"Sure honey. What is it?" She asked in her motherly tone.

"I was hoping that my friend, Ralph, could come along."

The other side of the line was quiet for a minute. "Ralph? Isn't that the name of your boyfriend?" She asked, not sounding upset, just confused.

"Yeah." I simply said.

"Well, it's usually a family event and last time your sister brought one of her boyfriends over it was a disaster." My mother said sounding worried.

I sighed. Yes, last time Melissa brought her boyfriend of the time along, they had spent most of the time arguing about stupid shit. "I know, but I think this is different. Ralph and I had been together for almost four years, you've met him before." I said trying to bring up as many pros as I could. "Besides, he got in an accident and doesn't remember anything. I just thought it would be nice for him to get away and have fun after all that." I started playing the pity card.

My mother gasped. "Oh that poor dear! Of course he can come along!"

I could not help but smile. "Thanks mom. I'll talk to you later."

"You're welcome. I love you sweetie." She said before hanging up.

I pulled the phone away from my ear to see that I had a new text message. 'Yeah I did. She says she'll think about it. When R U leaving?'

'Tuesday.' I sent back before relaxing and drifting off.

_**A/N: Jack: Phoenix is being all dramatic about almost getting 2,000 views. I'll be doing the acknowledgments. *Pulls out paper* Okay, lets see...**_

_**Me: Hey! Quite stealing my thunder! *Grabs paper***_

_**HiatusWriter: Yeah, my cat just sees me as a space heater. Mine tries to eat my laptop and phone. -.- He's a brat! I just upload at any random times, cause that's when I have time. Usually it's when I can't sleep. You stay awesome too! And, once again, thanks for the review!**_


	21. Chapter 21

I was jolted awake, later that night by my phone going off. Grabbing my phone, I hit the answer button. "Hello?" I asked, my voice still rich with sleep.

"What the Hell?!" My sister's voice boomed on the other line.

"Nice to talk to you too, Melissa." I said rubbing some sleep from my eyes. "What possessed you to call at..." I checked my clock. "10:45?" I asked.

"I know it's hard for you, but don't act stupid." I rolled my eyes at her remark. "You know exactly why I'm calling you."

Actually, nothing came to mind. The only time we really interact with one another is A.) when we meet up for the holidays or B.) when something horrible happens. "Look, if I did would I be wasting my time talking to you when I could be sleeping?"

She huffed and I could practically see her cheeks being puffed out and turning red. "You talked to mom about what we're doing for the holidays." Oh, that. "Who do you think you are, planning all this behind my back after we already had plans set!" I could only picture the anger in her blue eyes.

"Hold it right there!" I said raising my voice. "You're the one who planed what you thought would be nice without even running it by me afterwards. So, how was I to know what you wanted to do? Also, your ideas for the holidays was so fucking boring! Hell, I bet even mom's lazy cat would have hated that idea!" It was sort of a low blow, but I did not care. She deserved one every now and then.

She growled at me. "You're just doing it to impress your broken boyfriend. Oh, I'm sorry, ex!" She struck back.

My jaw clenched and I glared at nothing in particular. I had to deal with this carefully, or she could ruin the whole trip. "Look, I just wanted to get away with him." I said in a low voice. "He started dating someone else and this might be the only chance I have to try and get him to remember what we had." I explained. "Please, for once, help me out with this. I'll pay you, give you any gifts mom gets us, Hell, I'll even be your slave for the rest of my life. Just don't mess this up." I begged my older sister.

The phone was quiet for a minute or two, then she finally spoke. "You really love this guy don't you?" She asked in a softer tone.

"Yeah. I do." I replied in the same tone.

"Fine." Melissa said. "I'll stay out of your way."

I was in shock. My sister, who butted heads with me every chance she got, was going to respect my wishes. "What do I owe you?" I asked coming out of my stunned state.

I heard her suck her teeth. "Nothing. You're my little brother and every now and then I should act like it." Melissa said matter of factually.

"Melissa." I said with a smile on my face. "Thank you so much." It was odd thanking my sister, but not all around unpleasant.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't spread it around worm." She revived the insults to bring back some normalcy. "Believe it or not, I know what it's like to be in love."

"Oh, you have a heart now?" I asked jokingly.

"Shut up." She said half-heartedly. "He better be worth all this trouble you're going through, and if he hurts you, just know I won't hesitated to kill him." Melissa could be good at playing the protective older sibling role. "Now get some sleep. I'll see you Tuesday."

"Night." I said before hanging up. I had to pinch myself to be sure it actually happened, since I could count, on one hand, how many times we had understood one another. I laid back down, not really able to get back to sleep. Ten minutes had passed and I was still awake, so crawling out of bed and went to the kitchen. Rooting through the fridge, I found where Maurice had put the left overs from that night. I put one of the containers in the microwave and punched in a time. While that was 'cooking', I went to the living room, turned on the TV and laid on the couch.

I am not sure when it happened, but I had passed out and was now being rocked back and forth by my room-mate's foot. "Wakey-wakey little Jackie!" He was singing as his toes gripped in to my shirt.

I rolled over, shirt shifting due to it still being tangled in Maurice's toes. "Don't call me that." I grumbled, burying my face in a pillow.

Maurice did not let up though. "Come on Jack. If you don't get up you'll be late for work." At that my head shot up. "Good. Now that you're up, could you get dressed and take me to work?" I glared at him. "I got a flat tire and I need you to take me to work." My glare did not faulted. "Please. I got you up with enough time to get ready, take me to work, and even you to get to work on time."

"Do I have to pick you up afterwards?" I asked.

"Nope." He said sitting down to put on his socks and shoes. "Robert said he'd take me to get a new tire after he got off work, so you just have to drop me off." Maurice smiled at me.

I let out a sigh. "Alright, let me get dressed." I rolled of the couch. "Why I'm still room-mates with you I'll never know." I muttered under my breath.

"Love you too, Jack!" Maurice yelled at me, hearing what I said.

After taking a short shower, due to Maurice using up all the hot water, and changing in to clean work clothes, we were on our way to the record store. Maurice was talking my ear off, mostly about his co-workers and what he was planing for the holidays. apparently, he was going to spend it with his family who lived in the country. He finished his recent story just as we reached the front door to his work.

"Thanks Jack!" He exclaimed, jumping out of the car. "I'll see you later tonight!" Maurice yelled, running to the building.

I ended up having to speed just so I could make it to work on time. Dashing past Carrie, I went to clock in. "Happy Thursday!" She cooed when I left the office.

"Why are you so cheery?" I asked, tieing on my apron. She just smiled at me. "What?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Hello?!" She said, putting down the romance novel she was reading. "It's Thursday. After today, only one more day before we are free for two days!" Carrie exclaimed.

"Yeah, and I only have one day next week, then I get Monday before I go on vacation." I said straightening my shirt.

"Say what!?" Carrie slammed her hands on the table, which caused me to jump. "You're leaving me for a vacation!? I'll be stuck here waiting on these assholes and our dick of a manager, and you'll be off enjoying yourself?!" She fumed.

"Look, I'll explain everything later." I said in a calming voice. "Let's just get today over with." I said exiting the kitchen and going to the hostess' desk. Checking what tables I had, I passed by Nina as she was leaving. "Hi Nina." I said and she waved.

"There's two people at table seven that you'll be taking over. I think they're ready to order." She said quickly before heading to the kitchen.

I walked over to table seven and pulled out my notepad. "Hello, I'm Jack and I'll be your waiter this evening."

"Jack?" An all too familiar voice asked.

_**A/N: ...So yeah, this happened.**_

_**Carrie: Wow, don't we have a lot on our mind. *Is playing cards with Jack***_

_**Jack: Phoenix is always like that.**_

_**Me: -.- I get no respect from them. Moving on...**_

_**LustForTheLetters: It's fine about the reviewing. :) I like writing the Maurice parts, because I have a friend who acts like that quite a bit and it's fun putting some of them in to the character. ^^ Thanks for the review.**_


	22. Chapter 22

I paused, still looking at the pad in my hands. "Hello? Jack?" I glanced up to see Ralph sitting at the table with Andrew across from him, glaring at me. His pale green eyes drilling holes in to my skin and his muddy brown hair in a clean-cut.

"Hey Ralph." I said lowering my arms. "What are you doing here?" I asked trying to start a conversation.

Andrew scoffed and crossed him arms over his chest. Ralph shot him a glare, but said nothing. "Well, we're eating." He laughed.

My face flushed from embarrassment. "Oh...right, it is a restaurant." I brought my pad back up. "What can I get you to drink?" I asked, going back to my waiter mode.

"I'll have a diet soda." Andrew did not waste any time steering my attention from Ralph.

"What kind?" I was trying not to grind my teeth as he smirked at me.

"Surprise me." It was more of a challenge than an answer to my question.

I smiled then turned to Ralph. "I didn't know you worked here." He said continuing to try to chat with me. "If I knew, I might have come to visit sooner." Ralph joked, not noticing Andrew rolling his eyes.

I chuckled turning my back completely to Andrew, forming a wall between him and Ralph. "I couldn't have asked you to do that."

Ralph smiled, his eyes brightening. "But I'd want to, plus it doesn't hurt that it's a pretty nice place." He joked leaning his elbows off the table. I did not say anything about how it was bad etiquette, because I was in no boat to, with how bad I could be about it.

My manager came over to make sure I was actually doing my job. "Hello. How are we doing over here?" He asked in his fake nice voice. "I hope everything is all well." He directed his gaze to me.

Before Andrew could say anything against me, Ralph answered. "We're fine. Our waiter was just recommending things to us." He said in a confident voice, that made me almost believe what he was saying. "I'll just have a cup of tea if you'd be so kind." Ralph ordered from me and I nodded.

"I'm glad you're getting excellent service. Enjoy yourselves." The manager said, before slithering away.

"I'll have your drinks right out." I said rushing off to the kitchen. The cooks ignored me as I fumbled around with cups.

Not soon after, Carrie came bursting in and headed straight for me. "What happened? I saw our boss at the table." I shook my head and carried on. "Do you know those two? The blonde guy seemed to be very interested in you." She said nudging me.

"Yeah." I replied putting the, now full, cup of some diet soda down. "The blonde is Ralph."

Carrie perked up at this. "No fooling?" She looked to the door. "So the brunette must be that Andrew guy you told me about." I nodded. "Did he just bring him here to rub Ralph in your face?" Carrie asked, not seeing anything wrong with her statement.

"I don't think he knew I worked here. Shit!" I jerked away, after I burnt myself on the hot tea kettle. "It's just my luck I get to wait on that asshole. He's already trying to act better than me just cause I'm their waiter."

My co-worker was having none of that. "Oh, Hell no!" She yelled, gaining the cook's attention. "How dare he come in to our place of work and degrade you!" I could see the evil glint in her eyes. "What did he order to drink!?" She asked, furiously.

I finished pouring the tea, with my apron as a pot handle I might add. "Don't Carrie. I don't want him to get me fired." I said grabbing both glasses.

"Fine, but be warned." She said darkly. "He will pay. One way or another."

"Yeah, if he wants to eat he will." I replied, laughing at the face Carrie gave me as I left. Passing my manager, he glared at me, as if to say, 'don't fuck this up'. I sighed and set the drinks on the table. Ralph said a small thanks while Andrew preferred to act as if I did not exist. "Are you two ready to order?" I asked straightening my posture.

"Is there anything that you could recommend?" Ralph asked. 'If not to order, but at least to talk to me again'. I secretly hoped.

"Well, I don't really eat here but the chicken breast served in Thai green curry sauce with basmati rice smells good while it's being made." I said the first thing that came to mind.

Ralph wrinkled his nose. "I think I'll just have the melon and parma ham instead." He replied handing me his menu.

I thanked him and turned my attention to Andrew. "And for you?" I asked as I finished writing down Ralph's order.

"I'll take the mackerel on a bed of dressed salad leaves with warm toast." He held out the menu for me to take. "And try not to burn the toast." A smirk found its way on to Andrew's face.

I glared at him. "I'll have that right out." I said through gritted teeth, before I stormed back to the kitchen and handed the orders to one of the cooks. It was not particularly busy that day, so I was in no hurry to return to the floor. I collapsed on the table and let out a grunt. 'Why did they have to come to this restaurant?' my brain screamed as I buried my face in my arms.

"There are some people at table three that are waiting." Carrie said as she strolled in with empty plates. "You better go before the boss gets, even more, pissed with you." She suggested.

"Right." I replied shooting up and out the door. By the time I got back, the food for table seven was ready. Loading it on to a serving try, I headed back to Ralph and, unfortunately, Andrew. "Here you are." I said placing Ralph's food down first, then Andrew's. "I hope everything is satisfactory and please enjoy." I was about to turn away, when Ralph grabbed my arm.

"I know this might not be the time, but could you stop by my place after work tomorrow for dinner. Brianna wanted to talk to you." He said, taking a worried glance at Andrew.

I thought about it for a second before nodding. "Sure, I'll text you about it later tonight." I said and went back to the kitchen.

"So how's waiting on the ex and his new boy?" Carrie asked as soon as I entered. She had her nose back in her book.

I sat across from her. "Sucks." I answered flatly. "Andrew keeps giving me the evil-eye." I snapped biting my thumb nail.

Carrie looked up from her book. Her usually indifferent face was now twisted with anger. "Andrew sounds like a douche." She sucked her teeth.

I shut my eyes and mindlessly nodded to her. "Yeah, but I have to play nice with him." One of the cooks whistled at me and I got up to load another tray. "I'll be right back." I delivered the food to table three and was about to go back to Carrie, when Andrew waved me over. "Yes?" I asked putting on a fake smile.

"We're ready for the check." He smirked at me in return.

"Coming right up." I retorted in a bitter voice and hurried off to get their check. After Andrew paid I took the receipt and took it back to the cashier. As I pulled it out of the casing, I notice something, besides his signature, was on it. 'Stay away from Ralph.' Plain, simple, and to the point. Just like Andrew.

Carrie hurried out of the kitchen, probably looking for me. Spotting me, she dashed over. "What are you smiling at. I had not noticed I was smiling. I handed her the paper and her face grew red. "Oh Hell no!" She raged back in to the kitchen and came out a few minutes later with a tray full of drinks. Carrie acted as if everything were normal and then there was the crash.

"What the Hell's your problem!" Andrew yelled.

"I'm so sorry sir." Carrie said, not really meaning it.

Andrew threw down his napkin, letting out another angered yell before storming out with Ralph right behind him.

I was almost rolling on the floor laughing my ass off. God how I love Carrie.

_**A/N: Whoo! Got another chapter done! :) I can't believe I'm actually at 22 chapters! :D**_

_**Carrie: Get on with it.**_

_**Me: Fine XI**_

_**Terrordactyl: Was it that obvious? :x Oh well! LOL XD I actually wrote something for Valentine's Day that goes with this. Any who, Thanks for reviewing! :)**_

_**ImInRogersPants: :I**_

_**Jack: Say it.**_

_**Me: Fine you were right and I was wrong. You were able to get people to actually join your club, besides Carrie. Getting off that though. Hope this was worth the suspenseful wait. :D I would also like to thank you for reviewing my other story as well! It shows that Ralph's brain is trying to put it all together.**_

_**Jack: *Evil smirk***_

_**shyheart632: I'm so excited that this story got your attention! :D It makes me happy! X) Thank you very much!**_

_**Katherine-E-Kora: This is for you reviewing on Ralph's Dream. XD It's good to hear lol. I keep meaning to review on your Hale Protocol stories because they're so good! *Fails at reviewing* I promise I'll get on that ASAP!**_

_**LustForTheLetter: Hmmmm...Andrew dying from falling off a cliff sounds pretty good. *Bacomes thoughtful***_

_**Jack: I believe my club could start a petition.**_

_**Carrie: Yes! *Is in club shirt***_

_**Me: Thank you for reviewing on Ralph's Dream! ^^**_


	23. Chapter 23

Carrie's little incident cost us, not only cleaning that mess up, but also bathroom duty after our shifts were over. "This blows." She complained as she mopped the floor.

"Quit complaining." I retorted from one of the ladies' stalls. "At least you are not scrubbing the toilets." I grumbled.

Carrie seemed to perk up at that. "True. It was totally worth it though." She chuckled darkly. "Did you see his face? Priceless!" I tried to push down the feeling of pride, knowing I had the last laugh today, but I just could not. "I know you're smirking in there!" She chirped.

"Okay, okay. It was worth it." I agreed as I finished up in the last stall. "You almost done?" I asked stepping out and pulling off my gloves.

She held up a finger, telling me she would be done in a minute. "There!" Carrie grinned throwing the mop in its bucket. "Let's get out of here before we get stuck cleaning the kitchen too."

I held the door open for her. "After you my lady." I gave a mock bow which rewarded me with a light slap across the head. "That's the last time I try to be a gentleman towards you." I huffed following her to retrieve our things.

"Whatever." Carrie grabbed her purse off one of the stools. "Could you get my phone while you're in the office?" She asked, digging for her car keys.

I grabbed my jacket and her phone from beside the computer. Curiosity got the better of me and I checked her unread messages. Before I get the 'that's so wrong' speech from anyone, this is the chick that would happily post random shit on your Facebook if you give her the chance. The first message that came up was from her boyfriend. 'Hey Care-Bear. Text me when U get off work.' I burst out laughing.

"What!?" Carrie yelled. "What happened?!"

I strolled out of the office, smile on my face, and handed her the phone. "Oh nothing." I said making my way to the back door. "I'll see you tomorrow...Care-Bear!" I yelled before dashing to my van.

"Fuck you, Merridew!" She screamed after me.

I might have felt bad for calling her that, but I knew that I was going to get an ear full from her tomorrow anyways. I was going to make it count.

Upon reaching home, I was crushed in an iron grip of Maurice. "Jack! Thank God you're okay!" I would have yelled at him to let me go, if I had not spotted Roger on the couch...eating MY chips! "Where have you been for the past two hours?! I tried your phone, but there was no answer!"

When his grip gave some slack, I gently pushed him away. "I was at work." I stated not taking my eyes off the dark-haired boy in our living-room. "Why the Hell are you eating my chips?" I asked shooting daggers at Roger.

He glanced over and gave a slight shrug. "'Cause I feel like it." He said nonchalantly. "Maurice has been worried sick about you and your first reaction when you get home is to bitch at me about so bloody chips?" Roger asked rolling his eyes. "Wow, you got some pretty fucked up priorities." He took another bite as if to egg me on.

Feeling the tension, Maurice tried to soften the atmosphere. "It's all fine now. No need to me at each other's throats." He stood in front of me, blocking my view of Roger. "Roger came to see you..." Maurice seemed to be a bit disappointed by this, but kept a smile on his face. "And he brought Simon too."

Hearing his name, Simon peeked his head out from the kitchen. "Hi, Jack." He said before disappearing again.

I cocked an eyebrow and leaned to the side so I coud address Roger again. "What's up?" I took off my jacket before going to sit in one of the open seats. "Why'd you bring Simon?"

Roger held the bag out to me and I reached in grabbing a handful of the fried flakes of potatoes. "He wanted to make sure you weren't trying to kill yourself, or something like that." He muttered the last part under his breath. "Plus, I think he could be useful in future plans."

That statement sparked my interest. "What do you mean by plans? What are you up to now?" I asked skeptically.

Roger put on a mock shocked face. "Are you insinuating that I'm always up to something, Mr. Merridew?" He put his right hand over his heart. "'Cause if you are, I just want you to know that, that hurts me right here."

Maurice was trying to hold back from bursting out laughing at our antics.

"Where? You mean that black hole you have instead of a heart? Besides, I wasn't insinuating it, I'm flat-out saying it. You're always planning something, and most of the time it's no good." I said looking him right in the eyes, challenging him to prove me wrong.

He did not take me on. "You're right, but this time I'm helping you. Remember?" Roger set the bag down and looked to Maurice. "And you sit down, for Christ sake. You're bugging me with your standing over us." Maurice quickly sat down next to Roger, a bit closer even for Maurice standards. I did not say anything. "I need to know how it's going between you and Ralph before I can decided to go with my plan or not."

Simon emerged from the kitchen again, drying his hand on a towel as he sat on the floor across for Roger. He was dying to know as well.

I shifted in my chair and cleared my throat. "Well..." Everyone's attention was focused only on me. "I invited him to join me on my family's holiday trip. I asked my mom and she said it was okay and we'll be going to our vacation house on an island." I looked at their faces to judge their reactions. Roger just raised an eyebrow, while Maurice's grin grew three times its usual size. Simon was smiling now as well.

Maurice spoke first. "That's great!" He grabbed Roger's leg, but did not look at him. Roger slowly pushed his hand away though. Maurice's eyes showed a bit of hurt in them, but other than that he still had the grin on his face.

Simon, either ignoring what was going on with them or just not caring, spoke next. "Is he able to go, what with the recent accident and all?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure yet, but his aunt wants to have me over for dinner tomorrow to talk about something. My guess it's about the trip." I looked to Roger. "Well?" He gave me a questioning look. "What was your plan?" I asked, rolling my eyes. I swear, sometimes he can be as dense as a rock.

"It doesn't matter now." Roger stated grabbing the chips again. I gave him a look that, if looks could kill, he would be dead ten times over. "Fine! I was going to suggest tieing him up and keeping him in your closet til he remembered you." When he finished that sentence, everyone was staring at him like he had grown another head. "What?!" Roger shouted, feeling the tension on his shoulders. "Can we just watch a video or play games, or sometime?" He suggested leaning back in his seat.

After another minute of stillness, I decided to get up and pick a game for us to play. I still do not know if he was serious or not.

_**A/N: Not much really happened in this chapter. :/ Oh well, it's kind of a transition one.**_

_**LustForTheLetters: Here you are. Hope you enjoyed it. :)**_

_**Katherine-E-Kora: I finally did it! :D I got to reviewing the latest Hale story! Yay! :D**_

_**Carrie: Thank you. It was ingenious on my part! X)**_

_**Me: *Rolls eyes* Sorry that you'll have to wait for the next chapter to see what happens with Brianna and Jack. XD**_


	24. Chapter 24

We had gotten lost in a tag-team game of Halo. It was Roger and Simon verses Maurice and I. After my team got our butts handed to us, for the third time that night, Simon ordered a pizza.

Maurice paused the game while Simon was on the phone, and turned to me. "Are we up to running tomorrow, since you missed today?" He asked.

I dropped my controller in my lap, hands still on it. "Actually, Ralph's aunt wants me over for dinner tomorrow. After work, I'll only be coming home to change before leaving." I informed him as Simon rejoined us.

All three males gave me a questioned look. Roger broke the silence. "Do you have any idea about why she wants you for dinner?" He asked, shifting his position. I shook my head. "Well, knowing you, it can't be good." Roger was always so supportive.

I rolled my eyes before getting up and throwing the controller in the seat. Heading to the kitchen, I decided to get myself a soda. "Anybody want a drink while I'm in here?" I called, picking up the first can I could get my hands on.

"Got any lager in there?" Roger asked. I made a disgusted face, but grabbed one of the cans in the door. Returning to the living room, I tossed Roger his drink. "Thanks." He said catching it.

Maurice's eyes light up. "Are there anymore of those?" He asked, hopefully.

I sighed. I had almost made it back to my seat. "Yeah." I placed my drink on the table. "You want a drink Simon?" I turned to the dark-haired boy to make sure I could hear his answer.

Simon looked to Roger, as if to ask if it was fine. After Roger raised an eyebrow, Simon nodded. "Yes, please." It is still weird at how polite he is. "But, just a soda if you don't mind."

"Yeah, everyone gets one." I joked, heading back in to the kitchen. Digging in the fridge, I was able to find another lager and soda. After returning for the second, and last time that night, I was able to sit once again. "I'm a bit scared since it WAS his aunt that invited me and not him." There was a pregnant pause. "You think I could say I came down with the flu?" I asked as I bit my ring finger nail.

That comment received a hard slap to the back of the head, curtsy of Roger. "That's the type of thinking that got you into this whole mess in the first place!" He yelled at me. "I thought you were smart!" Roger continued to bitch me out while Maurice was falling on the floor, laughing his ass off. Simon was in a state off shock after the blow. "You're going to that dinner and find out what his aunt wants!"

I rubbed the spot that was struck and grumbled under my breath. "The only reason you want me to go is 'cause you're a nosy twat." I said glaring at Roger.

He rolled his dark eyes. "I repeat, I have to know what's going on if I'm still going to help you." That was a true enough fact. "And if you call me a twat again, there will be grave consequences." Roger said darkly. Maurice gently placed his hand on his fore-arm, but it was shaken off.

That was the last straw that night. Grabbing Roger roughly by his elbow, I started to lead him to the bathroom. "Please excuse us." I said through clenched teeth. "I just forgot, there's something important I need to tell Roger." I said disappearing from the other two boys sight. As soon as I locked the bathroom door, I turned to Roger. "What the Hell!" I half yelled, half whispered.

Roger gave me a questioning look. "What is your problem all of a sudden?"

"I don't care if you mess with me or even get pissy with me, but don't fuck around with Maurice's emotions." I took a short pause. "Especially in front of me."

He looked down at the tiled floor, with a scowl on his face. "Look, you don't know anything that's going on with Maurice and I." He said flatly.

"What do you mean?" I was determined to get to the bottom of the situation.

"Nevermind." He mumbled. "It's nothing." Roger's face told a different story.

I put my hand on his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "Talk to me Rog." I tried to convince him. "You're helping me with my love life, I figure I could do the same for you." I leaned against the sink and crossed my arms over my chest.

Roger continued to stand in the middle of the bathroom, clenching and unclenching his fists. He was debating if he was going to tell me or not. After minutes of intense silence, he finally broke. "What if Maurice gets tired of me?" Roger asked in a quiet voice. "You're my closest friend and if things go bad for use, I couldn't handle not being able to see you and him." He shifted his gaze to me, but his feet were still rooted to the floor.

"Don't worry about that Roger." I replied. "Whatever happens between you two, I don't care. Sure, you won't be able to come over as often if things get sour, but hey, I can always invade your house." I smirked.

"Simon was right." Roger stated before reaching for the door. "He said you'd say something like that."

"He's a smart kid." I said a bit irritated. "By the way." Roger stopped as soon as he opened the door. "Since I'll be gone soon, you'll have all that time to figure out what's between you and Maurice." I added a wink at the end to make my point. His face flushed as he stormed down the hall. I couldn't help but chuckle. Rejoining the rest of the group, I noticed the pizza in the middle of them as they savagely ingested it. "Leave me some!" I shouted as I grabbed for a slice.

"I hope you like pineapples." Maurice told me, much happier than earlier. It was at that point, I noticed Roger gently clawing in to his lower back. For Roger, that's actually a sign of affection.

Sitting next to Simon, I took a bit of the tropical pizza. "Not bad." I commented, giving Roger a knowing smile. He just shook his head.

The rest of the night was spent talking about event that happened at work. I told them why I was late and everyone was cracking up. Simon told us about his classes. Some of his stories brought back great memories from when I was in high school. "You know how the door to the roof has a dead bolt lock on it now?" I asked Simon and he nodded. Maurice and Roger were cackling. "That's because, my senior year, Ralph and I would always sneak up there during lunch or gym." I remembered the time we got caught and I could not help but smile. "We got in so much trouble when they caught us." Even with all the good memories, I could feel the void in myself grow a bit more.

_**A/N: Sorry it took me some time to write this and get it up. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to writing on this story.**_

_**autobotjolt101: Thank you. I'm so happy you enjoy it. :) I know this chapter doesn't really go anywhere, but next chapter should have more to it.**_

_**Just Another Reviewer, BlueAnchor: I was actually thinking about adding another chapter to the other story that goes with this one, showing how Ralph reacted after the whole lunch 'accident' but I haven't been able to get in the groove of it lately. I'm glad you like my character Carrie :) and yes, Andrew sucks ass XD!**_

_**hotwingincident: Here's a chapter that gives Roger and Maurice a bit of a happy ending at this point. :) Thanks for reviewing!**_

_**ollieapril: Thank you! ^^**_


	25. Chapter 25

The day grew to a quick close and I was more than happy to get to my bed. The covers were warm and inviting. I laid my head on a pillow, after digging under it for my phone. Only two unread messages showed up on the cracked screen. One was from Robert, which I did not feel like reading, but the other one was from Ralph. I unlocked my phone and quickly checked the text.

'Hey, sorry about Andrew blowing up at the girl U work w/'

I would have to tell Carrie about it when I saw her the next day. 'It's all good. She didn't even notice, since we're always Bing yelled by our manager. :)'

It took Ralph a few minutes to reply. 'Good. I didn't want her 2 think he was always like that. He's just...stressed out.'

A groan escaped my lips. It seems like every time I talk to Ralph, he has to bring up Andrew. I wish I could have told him how much it hurt me to hear it, but I am not supposed to try to kick-start his memory. I was trapped in the friend zone and, to tell the truth, it majorly sucks. 'I get that feeling. I'll talk 2 U 2morrow, B4 I come over 4 dinner. Night.' I sent back my message and rolled over, leaving my phone abandoned for the night.

My dreams that night were filled with Ralph, but not in a good way. He had replaced me with Andrew. Ralph was making a new life with him while I was left in the trash like an old, broken toy. I awoke with a start, a thick layer of sweat covering my body. After I got myself together, I ran a hand through my messy hair. "Calm down, Merridew." I whispered to myself. "It was only a dream." Turning to the clock, I noticed it was about time for me to get ready for work.

Taking a deep breath, I got out of bed and headed to the shower. As I passed Maurice's door, I banged on it to make sure he got up as well. "I got the bathroom first." I announced closing the door behind me. Stripping down to my boxers, I examined myself in the mirror. Freckles were splattered across my pale skin, staining my lean figure. It was not that I had no muscles, I just was not as defined as Andrew, who had a bulkier body. His skin was and even tone with no markings to ruin it. My unruly red hair curled a bit at the ends, while his straight brow hair stayed tamed. The only thing I had on him was my shocking blue eyes.

Maurice banged on the door, causing my to turn away from my image. "Hurry up and start the your shower already!" He yelled on the other end of it. "I have to take one too."

Removing my last article of clothing, I jumped in the shower and began my morning routine. As soon as I got out and finished brushing my teeth, I let Maurice get his stuff done. Getting dressed in my usual work uniform and making sure I looked okay, I headed out the front door and made my way to work.

Carrie was already there, like always, reading a different romance novel. "Hey." She said, marking her place before setting the book down. "Are you excited for today?" She asked.

"It's work, so I'm going to go with no." I replied as I went and clocked in. "But, I am nervous for afterwards when I have to face Ralph's aunt and uncle again." I sighed, throwing Carrie her apron.

She giggled and tied it around her waist. "You don't even know what she wants from you yet. For all you know, she could want you to move in with them and ravish your blonde princess so he'll remember you." Carrie said making it sound all dramatic.

My face heated up and I turned from her. "I think you've read too many of those trashy smut books and need to be put in a loony bin." I said, not making eye contact with the brunette.

"I'm just saying, you never know." She winked at me before heading to the floor.

I rolled my eyes, but followed her out, the whole time wishing I had just stayed in bed.

It ended up being a pretty slow day, which helped to lift my spirit. Our boss was even in a fairly good mood, but that could have been that he finally read my e-mail about asking for time off. Even with Carrie and I being some of his best workers, we were mouthy and having a break from one of us was like a gift from God himself.

Carrie swung the kitchen door open and strutted to clock out. "I'll clock you out so you can go get ready for your dinner date!" She called as she disappeared in the office. "See you when I see you!"

"Thanks!" I yelled back as I hurried to my van and headed home. I raced inside and headed straight to my room, not even saying 'hello' to my room-mate. I tore through my closet trying to find something that could make a better impression than what I had been wearing when I first met them in the hospital. I ended up deciding on a black tank top with a blue dress shirt that matched my eyes. Throwing on a nice pair of jeans and dress shoes, I found myself once again leaving.

On the way there I was caught in traffic, causing me to yell strings of curses before I was able to make it to Ralph's. As I walked up to the front porch, I was making sure my hair was not too out of control. After I rang the doorbell, it took a few minutes for Ralph's aunt, Brianna, to answer the door.

"Welcome Jack." She said in a cheery voice. "Come in." Brianna gestured to me. Her blonde hair was pulled in to a loose bun, showing off a pair of pearl earings. A plain forest green dress clung to her curves until it reached the middle of her calf. "Ralph is still getting ready."

"Thank you for having me." I said politely.

"It's no problem at all, but my husband and I would like to speak with you in private at some point." Her face held nothing, but seriousness at that moment.

I could feel a lump forming in my throat and my heart skip a beat. "I guess now would be a perfect time, that way we won't have to worry about it later." I suggested, wanting to get it over with.

Brianna seemed to think it over for a second. "I believe that could work." She said, then lead me to their living area. Joseph sat in an arm-chair, typing something on a computer. He was dressed in a simple white dress shirt and black slacks. "Dear." Brianna cooed resting on one of the arm-chair's arms. "Would you want to talk to Jack about the 'thing' now?" She asked and her husband stopped his work.

"Please have a seat." Joseph waved to one of the cushions. I quickly did as I was asked. "I hear you want to talk Ralph on a trip. Is that right?" He asked not turning from his computer. His eyes scanned over the screen, reading over what he had just wrote.

"Yes sir." I replied, not letting him see how nervous I really was.

"Hmmm. You are aware that he is currently in a relationship with a boy by the name of Andrew, correct?" I nodded, suddenly feeling my throat swell shut. "Ralph needs to be able to relax and clear his head, but I feel like he can't do that with Andrew around. He's too much of a distraction to Ralph." I closed my eyes, waiting for Joseph to turn down my offer. "But you..." He paused. "Ralph always comes home happy after seeing you and it's a refreshing sight." He finally turned to face me. "It's because of that, that I will allow him to go." Joy flooded my system. "But, if anything happens to him..." Joseph stared me down. "I will have no problem with killing you." A shiver went down my spine. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-yes sir." I said frozen to the seat.

"Good. I'm glad we could have this chat." He went back to typing.

Just then Ralph dashed in to the living-room, hair still wet. "Oh, you're already here." He smiled at me. "Sorry if I kept everyone waiting."

Brianna jumped up and clapped her hands together. "Not at all." She patted her husband on the shoulder. "Come on honey, it's time to eat." She then ushered us all towards the kitchen.

_**A/N: The dinner is going to be split up in to two chapters, and this was the first part. I have to do some work for the next few days and I don't know when I'll be able to work on this again. Just wanted to get a chapter out so it does get updated. A huge thanks to everyone who is reading and reviewing! I never thought so many people would respond to this story. It really means a lot!**_

_**shyheart632: I'm not sure at this point, I might depending on how other parts of the story get hammered out.**_

_**hotwingincident: Oh wow! :D Thank you so much! I'm flattered!**_

_**StarSeeker3459: Thanks, and I hope this was fast enough. XD I might add some more Rogice in later chapters.**_

_**Just Another Reviewer, BlueAnchor: Here is the long awaited next chapter! It only shows part of what Ralph's guardians want to talk about, but it does give a little something to, hopefully, hold people til the next time I can update. :)**_

_**Socialstudiesgeek16: Lol, I could actually see that happening too! I did add another chapter to the story that goes along with this one, but it's more what happened afterwards. Yes, Ralph is playing with fire at that point! XD**_

_**Terrordactyl: This chapter is more focused on what his uncle wanted to say, so you'll have to wait for the next update to see his aunts concerns. X) Sorry.**_

_**ImInRogersPants: O.O I has the power!? YAY! lol. Thank you so much for that review! It gave me a pick me up!**_


	26. Chapter 26

The dinning room was small, but had a cozy feeling to it. the table was set, waiting for people to sit at it and enjoy a meal. Brianna sat on the right hand edge and her husband, Joseph, sat beside her. Ralph took the seat across from his aunt, leaving my to sit facing his uncle through the whole meal.

As soon as I took my seat, Brianna bowed her head. I looked at her confused. Joseph raised an eyebrow at me and I felt Ralph nudge me with his elbow. I turned my head to see Ralph fold his hands as if he were at church, then it hit me. Quickly, I bowed my head as well.

Brianna cleared her throat. "Dear Lord. We would like to thank you for this lovely meal and the company we're sharing it with. Amen." She said then clapped her hands together. "Okay everyone." She chirped, passing her husband one of the side dishes. "How was your day, honey?" Brianna asked, starting up dinner conversation.

Taking the plate from her and getting what he wanted from it, Joseph then passed it to Ralph. "It wasn't as busy as it usually is, but I still had all the paperwork to deal with afterwards." He stated, putting some roast on his plate. "How about yours?"

"I got three wedding cake orders in and I booked an ad in one of the papers for the bakery." Brianna seemed so proud of her job.

"You work at a bakery?" I asked, the fork hovering by my mouth. All eyes fell on me and my face heated up. I looked down to my plate trying to take some of the pressure off me.

Thank God for Ralph's aunt. "Oh no." She gave a small chuckle. "I actually own it. It's small right now, but I hope to get more customers and advertisements out there so the bakery can expand." Brianna explained to me. I shifted my gaze to Ralph, who just gave me a small smile.

"Brianna is an amazing baker. All our neighbors keep asking if she's going to make anything for the bake sales to raise money for the schools." Her husband praised between bites. "Did you make anything for dessert?" He asked turning his attention to his wife.

Brianna nodded. "I made some cupcakes." Her face beamed from her smile.

Ralph's eyes light up. "Really?!" She nodded again. "Yes!" Ralph grinned at me. "You'll love them, Jack." He told me as he picked at his food. "She makes the icing from scratch."

Brianna blushed. "You two stop it." She laughed. "I don't want to get a big head before I'm able to make it big."

The rest of the meal was spent with Ralph talking about his day and some people he saw. Apparently he hung out with the twins at the the sandwich shop and that they were still in high school. I should have asked if they knew Simon. Brianna got up from the table and started collecting the dirty dishes.

I jumped up and began helping. "Here, let me get some." I offered grabbing Ralph's and my plates.

"Why thank you Jack." She said as her husband ushered for Ralph to join him in the living room. Ralph did not oppose him, but he did give me a sympathetic look as if he were apologizing that he was not able to come with. I gave him a reassuring smile before joining his aunt in the kitchen. "Don't worry about being alone with me." Brianna said from the sink.

"I..." I started to say, but she cut me off before I could get anything else out.

"Joseph can come off as...intimidating, but he really only has Ralph's best interests at heart." I joined her at the sink, putting the dishes in it and picking up a towel to dry the clean ones. "He does like you, he's just scared of what happened to Ralph. You can just put those in the cabinet above you." She instructed me and I did what she said. "Joseph and I have dropped little hints and pushing him in the right direction, but he insists on seeing this Andrew boy." Brianna's eyes filled with worry, making her look much older. "We've tried doing all we could without letting him see pictures of too many past events. I even went through his phone and computer, saving all the pictures and deleting them from those devises before I gave them back to him." She looked like she was about to cry.

Putting the dish I finished drying on the counter, I pulled her in to a hug. "It'll be okay. I know the feeling of trying to do what I think is right, but seeing him go off and do something different. When I heard about him and Andrew I wanted to tell him everything. It took all I had to not say anything." My eyes were stinging. "At least you have a better chance of getting your relationship back." I choked out.

Brianna quieted me and gently hummed a tune. "Just know we're doing all we can to help you." Her voice was so calming and it reminded me of my mother. It really was a shame she could not have kids of her own. After a minute more staying in the warm embrace, we parted, both cleaning our faces. "Oh dear." She said wiping her eyes. "Let's go make sure those two aren't getting in to trouble." Her face returned to its youthful appearance.

As we walked in to the living room, we found Ralph and his uncle playing some picture game on the computer. "Hey Jack." Ralph said turning around. "Do you want to help us figure this out?"

I walked over and looked over his shoulder. "What are you supposed to do?" I asked staring at the computer. Four pictures were on the screen and a jumble of letters were underneath them.

"You have to find something each picture has in common. The word is the black spaces and you can only use the letter it gives you." Joseph replied, eyes glued to the computer.

"Oh, ok." I said looking over the pictures. "Hmmmmm...Gesture!" I said enthusiastically.

Ralph's uncle out it in and it moved to the next set of pictures. "Nice work." He said giving me a smile. "Do you play this at home?" He actually joke with me.

I laughed and Ralph patted me on the back. "Maybe I should." I joked back and we went back to trying to solve the next puzzle. The rest of the night went on like that until the clock rang ten. "I guess I should be getting home." I stated stretching.

Ralph drew his attention from the game. "I'll walk you to the door." He said getting up and brushing off his pants. "I guess I'll see you later." He said opening the front door for me.

"Yeah. Hey, I'll be leaving on Tuesday for the trip. Do you want me to pick you up or are you going to get another ride?" I asked.

"Could you pick me up?" He asked looking a bit nervous. I gave him a questioning look. "Andrew...well, he... he might not know I'm going on a trip with you." Ralph looked down at his feet. "I told him I'd be visiting my grandma in the country for a week. Don't worry, my aunt and uncle said they'd cover for me."

I looked over his shoulder to see both Brianna and Joseph giving me a thumbs up. Turning my attention back to Ralph, I smiled. "Sure. I'll pick you up at nine." I said before heading to my truck and finally home. Now I could not wait for Tuesday.

**_A/N: Taking a break from other things I have to work on to update. Sorry that it took so long._**

**_Radioactive-Lollipop: DX I'm so sorry I didn't update sooner. I've just been swamped with school work. : Hope this chapter makes up for it._**

**_ImInRogersPants: Yes, he fills the position of the protective father extremely well! XD_**

**_Just Another Reviewer, BlueAnchor: It's the least I could do for the reviewers. ^^ Without them I don't think I would have continued it to this point. I do seemed to like making Jack suffer. *Make thoughtful pose.* Oh well. Lol X)_**

**_Socialstudiesgeek16: This chapter is short too for the wait I put people through. I'm glad you liked my other story too! I should be thanking you for reviewing! Thanks!_**

**_StanIsSexy100: Thanks, that makes me feel special! Hope this update was enjoyable. It's got a bit of Ralph telling Andrew a 'little' lie. X3_**

**_hotwingincident: That's totally fine! I like getting reviews. :3 I try and stick more to the book then the movie since I read the book before watching the movie. The movie (1990 ver.) was just too off for my taste. :/ I was watching some shows with a family member and I thought it was funny that some shows I've watched have had that episode where someone lost their memory. I thought I'd make a cheese story about that happening to Ralph. I honestly thought it would just be one of those stories to humor myself. It never occurred to me that it' actually get so many reviews._**


	27. Chapter 27

I always loved Saturday mornings. It was one of the few days I could sleep in and not have to worry about doing anything all day. This morning was different though. I heard a loud thud and something shattering soon afterwards. I jolted up and ran to the kitchen in an old band T-shirt and washed out boxers. "What happened?!" I asked, blood rushing to my head from getting up too fast.

Maurice was sprawled on the roll laughing while Roger stood over him with a pillow tight in his grip. Roger looked up, his face contorted in a scowl. "You say one word about this being a pillow fight and I will smother you with this." He growled, shaking the pillow as effaces.

I raised my eyebrow then looked to Maurice. He was unarmed, but did not seem to care. "What is he doing her so early?" I asked the brunette, who was imitating a tacky rug.

Maurice stopped giggling enough to actually look at me. "He stayed the night last night." He then gave me a questioned look. "Didn't you know that?" Maurice asked, to which I shook my head. "Oh, but yeah he did and we..."

"I don't want to know!" I cut him off covering my ears and making my way to the kitchen. The sound of Roger hitting Maurice with the pillow, not too gently I might add, came from the living room. Maurice broke in to another fit of laughter. It made me wonder how we have not been kicked out of this place for noise complaints yet. Digging through the cabinets, I recovered a bowl and went to grab my cereal so I could start the day. I froze when I picked up the box and found it empty. "Who the FUCK ate the last of my cereal!" I screamed, causing all sound coming from the other room to stop. Storming back to the living room, box still in hand, and shot daggers at the two men staring at me, one in shock, the other board. "Well!?"

"Uhhhhh..." Maurice offer. "Roger doesn't like mine so I told him he could have some of yours." I could feel my eye start to twitch. "I didn't know there wasn't that much left." He tried to cover for Roger, but it was too late.

I went up to Roger and got in his face. "You did that to spite me didn't you." There was no question about it, I knew Roger too well.

A smirk spread across his lips. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said mockingly.

I clicked my tongue and slowly nodded. "Right." My voice was calm and I felt Maurice grab a hold of me. He had seen that stance before and he knew that I was about to swing at him.

"C'mon Jack." Maurice offered, holding my hands down. "I'll buy you some more later today. You're just tired and it's not worth starting anything with Roger." He pulled me back to the couch and sat me down. I was still glaring at Roger, who was still smirking at me. "I've got an idea!" Maurice tried breaking any tension that was forming. "Why don't I call Bill and Robert and we all go to the park like we use to when we were in high school!" Maurice shifted his gaze between us. Both of us agreed and I went to change.

We took Roger's car and stopped to get coffee before going to meet up with Bill and Robert. I made Roger pay for my cup as a way to get back at him. When we arrived Robert was already sitting on the bench we use to meet up at. He was dressed in a long winter jacket and jeans tucked in his boots. A scarf was tied loosely around his next and lead up to his rich maroonish brown hair that was styled in a faux hawk.

Maurice ran up behind him, nearly tackling him to the ground. "You still working on getting a mohawk?!" He asked Robert, releasing him.

Robert pushed him away, gaining more distance between them. "Hey! Watch the hair Maurice!" He started messing with it, making sure it was still in place.

"That's part of the reason I'm keeping my head shaved." Bill remarked as he came up behind Roger and I. He wore a knit hat over his exposed head. A regular jacket covered his white shirt and his jeans were rolled up enough to show off his work boots.

Robert brushed off his jacket. "I hope you know how ridiculous you look with it." He commented on Bill's hair, or lack there of. "So why are we all here?" He turned his attention to me.

I shrugged. "Why not? I'll be leaving on vacation in a few days and Maurice thought it would be fun for us all to hang out like old times." I explained, shoving my hands in my pocket.

Robert rolled his light hazel eyes. "What crawled up you butt?" Bill asked looking down at him, seeing as he was taller than the brunette. "You seem really pissy today?"

"Turn that frown upside down!" Maurice exclaimed pulling Robert's cheeks in to a forced smile. "Now you tell big brother Maurice what's the matter." He dragged Robert in an awkward hug. Roger and I gave each other weird looks, both feeling sorry for Robert.

"If I tell you what's wrong will you please let go of me?" He gasped between breaths.

Maurice released the shorter boy, who took a deep, needed breath. "Deal. Now get to singing song bird." He demanded.

"Rebecca broke up with me." Robert said gloomily, staring down at his clean shoes. "Last night after I took her to a movie, she told me that I didn't spend enough time with her. She said she deserved a man who would be willing to drop everything and run to her." A bitter look came across his face.

"Sounds like she wants a little bitch to boss around." Roger injected. Everyone seemed to hold their breath, waiting for him to say something unconstructive. Not that he means to do it, just he does not take people's feelings in to consideration. "Honestly, I don't see why she dumped you." And there it was.

Robert's face flushed. "Are you calling me a bitch!?" He yelled glaring at Roger.

"That's not what he meant, Rob." Bill defended, stepping in front of him. "You know how Roger can get. He's slow when it comes to emotions."

"Wow Roger, you're just on a roll today." I commented, watching Maurice back Bill up and try to cheer Robert up. "You want to call Simon up and see if you can get him to cry while you're at it?" I asked sarcastically. Roger just flipped me off.

"Can we just forget all the bad shit going on in our lives and actually get to hanging out like we use to?" Bill asked already sounding exhausted, but that could just be from him working last night.

"I full heartedly agree!" Maurice clapped his hands together. "Who wants to feed the ducks?" He sounded like an adult talking to a group of little kids. We all gave him odd looks, before leaving him standing there as we headed to the playground. "Hey guys! Wait up!" Maurice yelled behind us.

**_A/N: This chapter is a bit of a filler and a few more after it might be too. I know I'm dragging everything out before the trip, but I promise I will get to it! Don't give up on my yet!_**

**_Radioactive-Lollipop: Thanks! ^^ Yes! Everyone feels like that towards Andrew! Wahahahahah!_**

**_windsurfergirl: It's fine, I totally understand the busy thing. That's why I haven't been able to update as often. It's kind of crazy that Brianna is actually Ralph's mother's sister huh? lol XD._**

**_Jack:...No._**

**_Me: Yes. "*Gives glare*_**

**_Jack: Fine. *Hugs windsurfergirl*_**

**_Me: ^^ Thanks for reviewing!_**

**_Just Another Reviewer, BlueAnchor: Jack's getting his own little A-Team to help him out with this! I'm glad you loved the last chapter! :D_**

**_Socialstudiesgeek16: Ralph has been a bit cheeky hasn't he? :3 FANGIRL FAITH UNITE! Thanks! XD lol I figured I get some hate for that part. XP but the end result was good!_**

**_ImInRogersPants: Taa-da! I have updated! Sorry it doesn't really progress the main story, but I will get back to it! Have no worries!_**


	28. Chapter 28

"Why is the park so empty?" Bill asked hanging upside down on the jungle gym. "It IS Saturday right?" His hat fell on the ground, exposing his head to the cold.

Robert picked it up and threw it to Maurice. "Today's kids are too sucked in to video games and social networks to go outside anymore." Ironically, he was sucked in some game on his phone. "They don't get the value of interacting with real people."

"Right. It's just the generations after us." I replied rolling my eyes. Robert turned his attention away from his phone, just long enough to raise his eyebrow at me before going back to it. "Look on the bright side, less kids are around to bother us." I tried putting a good spin on it.

"Jack's right." Maurice agreed. "Less kids means Roger will have a less of a chance to make one cry and their parents being furious at us." He said backing up my idea.

"Could you people be any more boring?" Roger asked from a nearby bench. "If I had known we'd end up just sitting around I would have gone home." He griped, slouching and shoving his hands in his pocket. "I'd rather be watching T.V. right now."

Bill swung down from the metal bars back on to him feet. "Well I'll be damned. You were right Robert." He elbowed said boy, but he kept his dull brown eyes on his phone. "Hellllooooo?" He tried again, waving a hand in front of his vision. "Pay attention." Bill tried to get the phone from Robert's iron grip.

"Hey! Quit it!" Robert pulled the phone back, giving Bill a light push to make sure he had enough room for a get-away. "I need this!"

Maurice was about to go break them up, but Roger grabbed the back of his jacket preventing him from going any further. "Let 'em fight. This is the most entertaining they've been. 'Ey Jack?" He asked me. I gave a swift nodded watching the quarrel.

"Please?!" Robert yelled reached up to try and get the device, that was held above Bill's head. "I was texting some one important!"

Bill held the phone even higher. "Someone more important than us? That hurts me Rob." He commented, giving him a mock hurt look. "I thought our friendship was special." Bill jerked the phone away when Robert made a jump for it.

"It anything about our friendship is special, it'd be you brain." Robert stated, standing on the tips of his toes. "But, really. I was talking to my stock broker." He said flatly.

Robert was always a bit strange in my eyes. I mean, what kind of kid decides he wants to get a business degree in the fourth grade!? With that said, I do have to give him props. At the rate he is going, he will probably have his first million by twenty-five, not including the inheritance his parents have for him. But all that came with him being pretty uptight and making sure he had his life planned out.

Bill was the complete opposite. He was always laid back and chill. He was happy in his one bedroom flat, with it not being perfect, but having a nice lived in feel. Bill was not too obsessed with how people saw him so he wore what he thought was comfortable. With that aura about him, there was no question why people thought he was the coolest thing since sliced bread.

Bill rolled his eyes and carelessly tossed Robert his phone. "You really need to take a break from that. Spend time with your friends and family." He rolled his shoulders. "That reminds me, how's your mother been?" This caught my attention. Last I heard of her, she was having break downs frequently and his dad was thinking about putting her in an institution.

"Has she been getting any better?" I asked breaking the silence I had found myself in for some time.

Robert let out a sigh, looking over everyone's faces, gauging their interest. We must have all pasted, I am guessing aside from Roger, because Robert probably did not care either way with finding his approval. "Dad's been getting to the point where he doesn't know if he can keep dealing with it and last time I spoke with him, he was about to check her in to some institute by the house." He took a pause. "I'm not entirely sure how to feel about it." He said, slumping against a tree. We all put in our opinions on it.

"Bitter?" Roger.

"Betrayed?" Maurice.

"relieved?" Bill.

All eyes turned to me. "Exhausted." I did not even bother putting my in the form of a question. Anything dealing with an unwell loved one emotionally drains a person.

Robert nodded. "All that, but it'll help her." He said accepting his reality. It made me think about all the choices I had been making with Ralph. Would it be better for me to just accept that he did not remember me and he was with Andrew? Let him try and be happy with out me second-guessing himself? Then the images of Brianna and Joseph supporting me came to the front of my mind. There was no way I could just quit after all we went through and all I have done since he lost his memory.

"You want us to come with you if you ever go and visit her?" Maurice offered.

Robert chuckled. "I think if I brought you guys, they might think I'm checking in more patients." He joked, lightening the mood. "But thanks for the support." He said, pushing off the tree. "How's living with Simon?" Robert brought Roger in to socializing. He just shrugged causing that dissection to flat line.

Maurice turned to me. "Anything new in your Ralph escapades?" He asked and the other three turned their attention to me.

"I went to his place for dinner last night..." Everyone waited for me to continue. "And his aunt and uncle are on my side. They've tried to help Ralph and me get back together. They're even letting him come on vacation with me." I said feeling accomplished.

Bill patted me on the shoulder. "Look at you make progress." He said happily. "You two will be back together in no time." Robert nodded in agreement.

"I think we should all celebrate with ice cream!" Maurice yelled excitedly.

"You are aware that it's freezing outside, right?" Roger asked, making sure Maurice was still on planet earth.

"I know, but everyone feels better after eating ice cream." He informed us.

We all gave in and followed him to the nearest ice cream parlor. After enjoying some frozen treats, despite the weather, Roger took Maurice and I home. "Best day ever!" Maurice exclaimed, falling on the couch. "I can't wait 'til we get to do it again."

"Well, that won't be for a while." I reminded him as I kicked my shoes off. "I have to spend the next few days packing and making sure I've got everything ready for the trip." I said before retiring to my room and booking the flight. I was going to make this the best trip ever.

**_A/N: Actually got another chapter out! YAY! Next chapter will deal with Jack and Ralph actually starting the trip! What people have been waiting for!_**

**_LustForTheLetters: I think that's everyone's thoughts on Andrew. XD LOL! Thanks for reviewing!_**

**_Radioactive-Lollipop: I'm working on it! XP Give me some time. :P_**

**_StanIsSexy100: Another club that needs shirts! :D_**

**_Katherine e kora: That's no problem. I've been all over the place and haven't been able to review myself. :( Anyways, I hope this update haves revived you! XD_**


	29. Chapter 29

The next couple of days I spent shoving my stuff in bags, while making sure my room-mate kept the house clean, at least until I left. I had gotten the tickets for the trip and talked to my mom about what time we were all going to meet for dinner that night. My mother and sister would be out enjoying the beach, so Ralph and I would be able to settle in.

I got up early Tuesday, to be able to take a shower and throw my bags in the truck before going to get Ralph. After my shower, I threw all my toiletries in a bag and went to eat something. What I was greeted to instead, was two of my friends sucking face. "You couldn't wait for me to leave?" I asked, watching them going at it.

Roger had gotten more comfortable with showing affection around me, but he was still on the fence when it came to public. He flipped me off, not breaking their lip contact. Maurice moved on to Roger's lap, I guess, from feeling like Roger was not giving him his full attention. When Roger started grabbing his ass, I decided that was my queue to disappear in the kitchen.

Shifting through the, newly stocked, cabinets, I searched for something I could eat on my way to Ralph's. I ended up putting some cereal in a plastic bag, before running to grab my luggage. On my way out, I was greeted by a shirtless room-mate and my best friend sucking on his neck.

"H-have a g-good trip, J-jack." Maurice moaned between his words.

"Why can't you both go back to being secretive about this!?" I yelled before heading out the door.

Before I was able to shut the door, I heard Maurice yelp. "Roger! Don't bite so hard!" Roger laughed and I slammed the door.

Throwing my things in the back, I got in the driver's side and took off down the street, trying to get as far away from my friends as possible. It did not take me long to reach Ralph's and already my heart was racing. .Soon I would be, practically, alone with Ralph on a tropical island, enjoying the sun and beach. Running around in swim trunks, watching the stars in a clear, cool night sky. And after a walk along the beach, we will kiss and...I had to pull my thoughts from going any further. As much as i hated it, Ralph was still with Andrew, even if he agreed to join me on vacation. Plus my family would be there, so no chance in anything happening there. Letting out a deep sigh and went up to the front door.

"Give me a second!" I could hear Ralph yell on the other end of it after I knocked. I stood outside, tapping my sneaker on the porch, waiting for the blonde to open up. I was soon met with the sight of two striking green eyes. "Sorry about that." Ralph said exiting the house with a duffle bag slung over his shoulder. "Brianna kept asking me if I had everything and telling me to call her when I get there." We started walking to my truck. "Oh, she says 'hi' by the way." He chuckled putting his stuff in the back and taking his place in the passenger seat.

I got in to the diver's seat and buckled up. "Tell her I say 'hi' back when you call her." I joked, receiving me a light punch on the shoulder. "Hey! Haven't you ever been told not to mess with the driver?" I asked pulling out of the parking space.

Ralph rolled his eyes, but had a smile on his face. "Mind if I turn on the radio?" He asked pointing at it.

"No, go ahead." I answered concentrating on the road.

Ralph flipped through the stations, looking for a song. He stopped on the song Use Somebody, by Kings of Leon and seemed to get lost in his thoughts. "I feel like I know this song." Ralph said just above a whisper. My heart jumped at this. That was the song that broke me the day that my dad died, and Ralph was there to comfort me. I spent all night crying in his arms and it all just felt right. My eyes began to sting as I tried to hold back tears. "Jack?" Ralph asked softly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." I pushed back all negative thoughts. "That song just hits my weak spot sometimes." I glanced over to see a worried look on Ralph's beautiful features. "It's fine." I tried reassuring him.

Ralph gave me a small smile, then changed the station. "I'm sure there's something better playing." He said flipping through the stations again. "Do you have any CDs?" Ralph started looking on the floor board for any signs of what he was looking for.

"Nope. The few I have are in the living room." I said before shivering from what I saw this morning. "Not sure if I'll want them now."

Ralph raised an eyebrow at that. "Why not? Don't tell me you have that bad of taste in music." He joked, giving me a smirk. "Unless it's all classical." Ralph laughed running his fingers through is fair locks.

I shook my head slightly. "It's nothing like that." I found myself laughing with him. "It's more of what I saw as I was leaving this morning." I said cringing a bit.

"Oh come on. Nothing could be that bad so early in the morning..." A thoughtful look came across his face. "Well, maybe how my aunt looks in the morning, but to be fair nobody looks good in the morning." Ralph smiled as he pulled out his phone. All I could think about was all the nights I had woken up to his green eyes, bright and full of life even when he was tired.

"Not everyone." I simply stated as we pulled in to the airport parking. "We're here." I said pulling in to a parking space before Ralph could question my answer. shutting off the car, I got out and grabbed my bags. Ralph followed my lead and I locked the doors. Digging though my pocket, I pulled out Ralph's ticket and handed it to him. "Here you go. Don't lose it." I joked, giving him a smirk.

He gave me a look of shock, then elbowed me. "Watch it." He scolded, the smile making it lose effect. "I have a duffle bag and I know how to use it." Ralph pulled on the strap. "Don't make me use it."

I gave him a light push. "I can't make you do anything you don't already want to do. So don't blame your weak will on me." I said readjusting the bag strap on my shoulder.

Ralph stuck his tongue out at me childishly. I felt a blush creep on to my face. "Lets just find our plane, Mr. high and mighty." He joked looking at his ticket.

"Get ready to have your privacy invaded." I said quickly finding the bag check line. "At this point I'm use to it." I commented remembering every year I visit my family.

"I don't mind. I've got nothing to hide." Ralph turned his nose up in a pompous way, but started laughing.

"So you like having people's hands on you?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

Ralph's face flushed. "N-no!" He tried defending. "That's not what I meant."

I laughed and patted him on the back. "Don't worry. I'm sure you're not the only one." I joked handing my bag over. So far so good. I thought as we made our way to the boarding ramp.

**_A/N: I was able to pump out another chapter! Yay! And this one is making progress! ^^_**

**_shyheart632: Here's a bit of Rogice that I threw in. Hope you enjoy it! =^.^=_**

**_Radioactive-Lollipop: Glad you liked my filler BS. I gave too much away! O.o Abort mission! Lol._**

**_hotwingincident: I am a supported of that pair myself, but I'm still not sure if I want to put that pair in this story. XD_**

**_Sadistic Blonde: I hope this bit of interaction was good enough. X)_**

**_Just Another Reviewer, BlueAnchor: It I did use a quote from Tangled I'm not sure which one it was, but I do like that movie. :) I don't mind that you missed an update, like I've said to people before, I'm just happy when I get reviews. ^^ and to your friend, socialstudiesgeek16 that's okay and I hope they have a good trip. :) P.S. Thanks for recommending my story! XD_**


	30. Chapter 30

"I feel so violated." Ralph joked, covering his chest even though he had a shirt and jacket on. "I think I'm traumatized." We both had a good laugh. "But seriously. I'm so excited to to somewhere that I don't have to wear a jacket!" He had already began to unbutton his jacket.

"Relax." I could not help but laugh at his childish behavior. Ralph was always a bit more laid back than I was, but he was also able to get me to be less serious. "We still have to get on the plane." I said taking the lead to the terminal entrance. Ralph followed me and once we were on the plane, we quickly found our seats. Ralph dug around in his carry on bag and pulled out an Ipod. "You don't plan on talking to me?" I asked sarcastically, pulling out a book I had been trying to read.

He looked at me as if he were going to apologize, but stopped and rolled his eyes. "Oh I'm sorry. I thought since you were going to be engulfed in a paperback that it would be okay for me to get lost in the realm of GOOD music." Ralph joked, a smirk playing on his lips.

I elbowed him. "Hey! I listen to good music!" I defended myself. "It's not my fault you weren't given the same privilege in learning what REAL music, as I was." I shifted in my seat and pretended to concentrate on my book.

"Oh, I'm sorry your highness. Would you like me to kiss you royal butt while I'm beneath you, chief?" He laughed, taking the book out of my hand. When I looked up at him, his face was centimeters away from mine. "Well?" Ralph asked, not seeming bothered by the lack of space.

I was in shock. The feeling of Ralph being so close to me, but it was almost alien from the time we lost. I scanned over his face, the marks almost gone and a new bump in his nose, but I remember it so well. Reaching up, I ran the back of my hand down his cheek until I reached his neck. Ralph's features changed to that of surprise, but he did not pull away. I turned my hand and placed my palm, flat against the back of his neck. My eyes focused on his as I pulled him close and locked lips with him. I closed my eyes and just focused on the feelings that this moment brought.

Ralph did not respond at first, but when our lips lost contact, he pulled me back. I lightly nipped at him bottom lip and without hesitation he gave me access to his mouth. In true Ralph fashion, he did not just lay back and let me take total control, but fought me dominance. He let out a soft moan as he fisted my shirt, wrinkling the material.

"Ummm?" A soft voice hummed, cause Ralph and I to break apart, out of breath. Ralph turned towards the window, a guilty aura surrounding him. I looked to a young boy standing by the seat next to me. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you, but I didn't expect to see..." He trailed off, shuffling his feet and shifting his brown gaze to the bag he clung to. The, almost red, brown hair on his head, fell a bit in to his face and covering a discoloration.

Grunting, I grabbed my book from Ralph's seat and ignored him as he sat down. Personally I did not mind the silence, but the boy's body was restless.

"I really don't mean anything by that comment." He turned to me and I let out a deep breath before shutting my book. It was clear that I would not get any farther without clearing the air.

"You don't mean a lot of things, do you?" I spat, even though I knew it was not his fault and he just got the lucky seat.

He looked like a deer in the headlights, or a child that caught doing something wrong. When he noticed my cold gaze he turned his attention to his lap. "I'm sorry." He said in a small voice. "I know I say that a lot and that's why my mom is sending me to my cousin's."

At that moment, I felt like a total dick. That poor kid looked like he was a huge target at school for bullies and I was just bring that back up on his get away. Taking another deep breath and pinching the bridge of my nose. "Look..." I said sneaking a quick glance to make sure Ralph was listening to his music. When I confirmed it I continued. "It's not you, I'm dealing with a huge issue and that moment was a huge step." I said, trying my best not to sound malicious.

He nodded in understanding. "I get that." The boys replied playing with his hands. "I'm Ross by the way." Ross said, still not looking up at me.

"Jack." I replied. "Where does your cousin live?" I asked feeling the need to make some kind of an amends. That question seemed to be a gate opener and for the rest of the trip, while Ralph fell asleep, Ross and I were able to talk. I found out that he was going to America so he could learn to be more comfortable with himself and gain a bit more confidence. I, in return, told him about the whole drama between Ralph and myself. At first he seemed a bit uncomfortable, but after talking everything out, he seemed to understand that we were just like him, just different sexual preferences.

By the time the plane landed, I had woken Ralph up and said my good-bye to Ross. Ralph seemed a bit confused by that, but did no say anything about it. At the baggage claim, we waited in silence as we watch bag after bag pass by. My stuff came by first, I collected it and Ralph's came around not long afterwards. The tension had started to get on my nerves as we headed to the lobby.

A man holding up a sign with my last name on it, was standing outside. "I see mom didn't spare any expense." I muttered under my breath as I walked past a shocked Ralph who was gawking at the limo. Grabbing his hand, I dragged him forward and pushed him in to the vehicle. After talking to the driver, I joined an awe struck Ralph. "You could catch flies with that mouth." I commented dryly, a bad try at a joke to break the awkwardness.

Ralph shut his mouth and looked at me. "How rich ARE you?" He asked giving me an uncomfortable look.

I rubbed the back of my neck and looked out the window on my side. "I'm not rich. All this is from the money my father and mother made." I felt put on the spot and being judged on my parents success.

The sound of Ralph shifting caused me to look up. He was staring at me, not like normal people who found out my family's wealth, but as myself. "It's just kind of a shock, since I've seen how you and Maurice live and you don't come across as...well, like you're better than EVERYONE else." Ralph chuckled.

"My mother raised me right than." I gave him a smile to show that there was no bad blood between us.

"Mr. Merridew." The drive cut in. "We're here."

I looked back to Ralph and grabbed my bags. "Come on. Hopefully my mother and sister will be out so you have time to get settled before you meet them." I mumbled as we made our way to the beach house.

**_A/N: Yay! I finally got to the trip even though it took me til my 30th chapter. XD And thank you for over 4,000 views!_**

**_StanIsSexy100: I try not to be that douche. Lol, but thank you so much for having my story be one of your favorites!_**

**_StarSeeker3459: A little progress in getting Ralph's memory for you. Hope you like!_**

**_Radioactive-Lollipop: I'VE BEEN CAUGHT! NNNOOOO! I added some more Jalph slash in this chapter just to take it away! WAHAHAHA! I'm so evil. :)_**

**_imamonster1221: Oh my. Roger and Maurice seem to be stealing the show. Hmmmm... *goes soul searching*_**

**_0oSilveryBlueo0: Here a chapter for you a thanks for giving up sleep for my story. :) Thank you for the review!_**

**_LustForTheLetters: I'm excited that they make you happy! :D It was fun writing Jacks response to Roger's and Maurice's show of affection. XD_**

**_hotwingincident: ...I think I should do a story following their relationship! *Gives in to bandwagon*_**

**_shyheart632: I'm glad and you're welcome! :D_**

**_Sadistic Blonde: *Pulls out To-Do list* Please Rogice fans, check. Lol X)_**

**_Guest: They have reached their destination, let the fun begin!_**

**_Socialstudiesgeek16/BlueAnchor: No way I'm I going to let the vacation end with nothing! That would be totally unfair to my readers! X3 I'm glad that you liked Ralph and Jack's banter and I will make sure that Ralph remembers to call his aunt/mother! I agree double dates are weird. O.o Lol, Thanks once again for the review(s)!_**


	31. Chapter 31

"Hello?!" I shouted as I entered the elaborate front door. Every house my mother ever owned showed that she liked the more expensive taste. I never really thought about it until I got older, seeing as she had the money to do that. "Anybody in?!" I asked, the seemingly empty house. "Looks like they're out." I said turning to Ralph, who was still standing in the door frame. "Come on, I'll show you to your room." I motioned for him to follow. Walking down one of the carpeted hallways, it reminded me of when my sister and I were younger and my father would insist we come here for any vacation. It made me realize how much like my father I really am, and that might have been the only reason my sister backed down.

"It's just your sister and mom here, right?" Ralph asked, following me and gazing at old family pictures. I nodded as I counted the doors, a habit I developed when I was young so I would not get lost. "When will I get to meet them?" He asked as I came to a halt in the fourth door on the left. The, once white door, had been painted in an off white beige.

I shrugged. "Maybe tonight at dinner." I replied opening the door. "This will be your room. Mine's across the hall if you need anything." I turned to leave, when Ralph spoke up.

"You're just going to leave me to myself?" He sounded almost worried about it.

"I thought you'd want to have time to yourself so you can get everything where you want it." I stated drumming my fingers on the door frame. "Plus, you still need to call your aunt and tell her you arrived safely."

Ralph perked up at that. "Oh right. How could I have forgotten!?" He exclaimed, digging around in his bag. "Thanks for reminding me!" Ralph scowled through his contacts and I took that chance to head to my room parallel to his.

As soon as I enter my room, I threw my stuff down and flopped on the soft, queen sized bed. The clean sheets felt nice against my skin. My eyes fluttered closed and I found myself in a state of dreams. I do not remember how long I was asleep, but I do remember a weight shift on my bed and a warm hand shook me a bit. Opening my eyes, I was greeted to the sight of Ralph staring down at me with a warm smile on his face. "Hey." I said, voice dripping with sleep. "How'd your talk with Brianna go?" I asked, sitting up.

Ralph started biting his thumb nail. "It went well. She says 'hi' by the way and she wants me to enjoy myself. She also said she and Joseph already miss me." He stated, taking his thumb from his mouth to his lap.

"That's good. Next time you talk to her, tell her I say 'hi' back." I smiled before yawning and wiping the sleep from my eyes. Silence fell between us and it made me a tad restless. "So..."

"The kiss on the plane." Ralph cut me off before I could say anything. "We shouldn't have done it and..." It was my turn to interrupt him.

Leaning forward, I pressed our lips together again. This threw him off, but he did not tense like the first time it happened. Pulling away, Ralph just sat there staring back at me. "Please. Give me a chance." I offered at the frozen blonde.

It took him a minute, to reply. "I can't." His voice was a low whisper. "Like I've said before, I'm with Andrew. It's..."

I put my index and middle finger on his lips. "I just want one chance. While you're here, I just ask for you to forget about Andrew and focus on here and now. Let me have this trip to show you how I feel and let you rethink everything. If you still want to be with Andrew after this is all over, I'll let you be." I begged removing my fingers from his face. Ralph looked as if he were considering my proposal. Growing impatient, I got up and went over to start unpacking my bags. "You don't have to give me an answer right now. Just think about it, but if you don't mind, I'd like to have some privacy as I fix my room."

He wasted no time in darting out of my room, leaving me to the chore in front of me. Letting out a sigh, I started shoving my clothes in different pieces of furniture. Once all that was done, I dug in my carry on bag and pulled out my phone. Turning it on, I went through my messages, but sadly I had no new ones. Turning the screen off and tossed it on the bed. I grabbed some shorts and a gray tank top to change in to for the warm weather. Going over to the landscape window, I gazed over the beautiful, white sand beach that was just a walk away, crossing my arms over my chest. The view was so calming and gave me a little peace of mind before I heard a knock on my door. Walking over and opening the door, I was graced with Melissa standing there, dressed in a wrap to cover her swim suit, hands on her hips.

"So you did sneak in without saying 'hi'. That is so like you." She smirked, pushing her way in my room. With her being a good head shorter than me, I would have felt bad, well kind of, if I had forcefully kept her out.

I snorted and closed the door again. "I wanted so alone time before I had to deal with you."

My retorted did not seem to faze my sister as she turned around. "So where is your 'friend'? Did you decided not to bring him after all?" Melissa asked, sitting on my bed as if she were a real lady.

"He's here." I stated, still standing as a sign that I did not really want her invading my space at this time. "I hope you know, he does get his own room here." I said dryly, waiting for her to pounce or attack me verbally. It was a normal thing between us. Until one of us established a peaceful encounter, we would both hold up our guards. I know it might not be healthy for us, but in a twisted way, it is how we show affection. If we did not care for each other, we would not ever speak.

She seemed to accept that. "What room?" Melissa asked, hopping up and slowly walking to the door.

"Don't worry about it" I replied dependably. "You'll get to meet him at dinner later tonight." My gaze followed her.

My sister looked me over, taking in my stance and body language. She took in every twitch and muscle flex. "Hmmmmm." She hummed, putting her hand on the door. Throwing the door open, she stood in the door was for a few more seconds. "He's across the hall isn't her." Melissa stated, before turning tail and banging on Ralph's door. "Helloooo?" She shouted as I ran up to her, grabbed her by the waist, and tried dragging her away. unfortunately, I was too late and Ralph opened the door to me forcefully trying to direct my sister away.

Ralph raised an eyebrow, confused at the sight. "Did I miss something important?" He asked still taking in our spat.

"Hello. My name's Melissa." She said wiggling out of my grip. "I'm Jack's older sister."

**_A/N: Dun dun dun! How will this encounter end?...Not sure if I even know yet. . . Don't judge..._**

**_LustForTheLetters: Of course! I thought it was about time for it! There's a bit of fluff in this chapter just to keep it going._**

**_hotwingincident: Here's where they actually start the trip! Yay! I think I'll write a bit about those two and their antics._**

**_Radioactive-Lollipop: Oh come on, like I'm not going to mess with the perfect moment when they haven't started the vacation yet! Wahahahaha! : Glad you enjoyed._**

**_Katherine-E-Kora: Thanks and you're all good. ^^ Lol everyone wants him dead. Good! XD_**

**_StanIsSexy100: XD I'm glad! I hope you enjoyed this chapter with the little fluff in it!_**

**_People are so petty and tiny: Your wait is over! Thanks for all the reviews! X)_**

**_CSIBakerstreet221b: Thank you so much! ^^ I hope you also loved this update!_**

**_Just Another Reviewer, BueAnchor: I hope this answered your question...kind of at least. Hmmmm, eliminating the competition, I like it! XD_**

**_Socialstudiesgeek16: DOn't die yet! There's still more to the story! XD Here's the proof!_**

**_GingerificFabulousTime: Thank you! XD Yes the fanfictions are pretty awesome!_**


	32. Chapter 32

There was no way I could save him now that he was on Melissa's radar. "Nice to meet you." Ralph replied, holding his hand out. "I'm..."

"Ralph. I know." She cut him off and walked past him, in to his room like she did with mine. A bad habit she had, since she felt entitled to know everything that went on in our family. That's part of the reason I did not feel the need to talk to her that often. Melissa gracefully perched herself on the stool for the vanity and crossed her legs at the ankle, leaving a confused Ralph gawking at her.

When he turned to me, after his disbelief faded, a blush covered his face. "You can come in too if you like." Ralph offered opening the door wider, eyes cast downward, not making eye contact. It did put a small hole in any hope I had, but I was asking him to cheat on his boyfriend, even though I told him it would not count here.

I nodded, not that he saw, and walked past him to sit on his bed and stared down my sister. This did not go unnoticed by her. "Oh relax Jack." She said leaning back on her hands. "It's not like I'm going to tell him you wet the bed until you were seven." My face flushed and Melissa put her hand over her mouth lightly. "Opps! There I go shooting my mouth. You should know better than to make me nervous." She commented, a smirk playing on her plump lips.

I could hear Ralph chuckle from beside me and I swiftly turned to him, glaring and daring him to tell anyone. "We all have things we're embarrassed of." He said fighting laughter. "I ran to my parents room during thunder storms until I was almost ten." He threw out, trying to make me feel better. It helped a bit, but the damage had been done.

Melissa just sat back, basking in the new information she had got. "So, tall me about yourself Ralph?" She asked, regaining the room's attention. "I heard you were in a car crash. How have you been dealing with that?" My sister sat up straight to make sure she could soaking in his answers. Big difference between Carrie and her was, if Carrie did not know you that well, she could not care less about anything you have to say, that is unless you are agreeing with her. Melissa had to know as much as she could about as many people she could. It is no wonder I like my co-worker better.

Ralph bit at his bottom lip, mauling over how her would respond. "Well, I'm still figuring thing out about myself..." He gave a small laugh indicating it was meant as a joke, but my sister just raised a, perfectly plucked, eyebrow. "But I have been remembers a few small things here and there, like, I remember playing sports and how much I loved it." Ralph paused to rate our reactions, until he was waved on to continue. "When it comes to dealing with the accident, it's hard. It upsets me to see faces and the hope they have that I'll be back to my old self soon." A sad smile played on his face. "I feel like they have expectations of me, but they're of a person I don't know." My sister looked like she was going to comment on it, but instead sat there quietly. I got up, walked over to Ralph and put a hand on his shoulder. Ralph turned and pulled me in to a tight hug. "It's hard and for some reason, you're the only person, other than my aunt and uncle, that can accept me and make it feel okay that I'm so lost."

I buried my face in to the crook of his neck and rubbed his back in a slow movement. Looking up, I noticed Melissa watching with sad, understanding eyes. "I'm sorry Ralph." She said in such a soft voice, I almost did not believe it came from her.

Ralph released me and turned back to her, a normal smile back on his face. I kept my hand on his back, not wanting to lose the warm contact. "It's fine. You were just asking normal questions that come with these type of things." Melissa started playing with her wavy hair, still having a downtrodden aura around her. "Really, it's fine." He egged on. "Is anyone else hungry, 'cause I'm starving and food sounds amazing right now." Ralph gave her a smile and she gave a small one back.

"Fine, let me show you to the kitchen." She said hopping up and waving him out of the room to follow her. "Just try not to spoil your dinner."

Ralph gave me grabbed my hand off his back and entangled his fingers in his own. It made my heart flutter. "No way I'm I letting you leave me alone with her." He joked dragging me along with him as he followed Melissa down the hall.

"Like I'd let you face her alone." I gave his hand a small squeeze. Entering the kitchen, I noticed a thick book resting on the counter. "I didn't know you could read Melissa." I joked picking it up.

My sister rolled her eyes as she opened the fridge to retrieve a drink. "Very funny." I gave her a smile before turning my attention back to Ralph and gesturing for him to look through the cabinets. "For your information, that's mother's book that she's been writing in."

That information sparked my interest as I took a seat on one of the bar stool. "That's new. What's she writing about?" I asked grabbing an apple from the counter and sinking my teeth in to it.

Melissa sat next to me, giving my a worried look. I could feel the uneasiness radiating from her and it transferred to myself. "Well...It talks about her feelings after dad's death and all the ways she grieved. She also puts down changes in the household and even goes in to how she saw us trying to cope with the situation." My sister paused waiting for my response, but the only thing I gave her was a dull stare and placing the rest of the apple down. "Say something please." I could tell my actions, or lack there of, was unsettling to her, but there was no way I could respond that she would like. "I hate that this is how you choose to deal with anything related to dad." Melissa scolded, but in a soft voice.

I knew Ralph was biting his time, by pretending to look in the cabinet, trying to eavesdrop without being too obvious. "I know you're listen, Ralph." I commented, Melissa twirling around to look at the blonde.

Shutting the door slowly, Ralph was biting on his thumb nail and finding the door more interesting than it is. "I..."

Cutting him off, I tossed the apple in the trash, suddenly not hungry. "I don't want to talk about this. Just forget this was brought up." I got up and gave my sister a glance. "Can you show Ralph around. I suddenly don't feel good." Without waiting for an answer, I headed back to my room and locked myself in. That's where I found myself for the majority of the first day.

**_A/N: With all the projects I've been buried under I haven't had time to sit down and write.:/ Hopefully that will all change soon. Sorry this chapter was a bit upsetting, my mind is blanking out a bit. -.- I'll work on it for next chapter._**

**_CSIBakerstreet221b: I'm glad you liked it! More Ralph/Jack interaction to follow! :)_**

**_StanIsSexy100: Thanks! :D_**

**_People are so petty and tiny: Cliffhangers make sure people come back! XD Sorry for this chapter not being as good, but like I said I'll be working on it._**

**_StarSeeker3459: That's crazy! XD LOL Melissa will play a pretty big part during their trip so there will be more of her. X)_**

**_Just Another Reviewer, BlueAnchor: Sorry that this chapter doesn't really have much Ralph/Jack stuff, but later chapters will. I promise!_**

**_Socialstudiesgeek16: I'm glad Melissa is a liked character so far! (not sure after this chapter .) Jack's mother will appear in the next chapter. :) The rest...let's just say TBC. XD_**

**_Sadistic Blonde: Don't worry. We'll see process soon. :)_**


	33. Chapter 33

It was dark outside by the time someone knocked on my door. Letting out a grunt, I turned away hoping they ould get the idea and leave. unfortunately they did not and I could hear the door open and shut. A weight shift indicated that the person was sitting on my bed and then warm arms wrapped around me. "Jack, sweetie. Will you be joining everyone for dinner?" My mother's sweet voice rang in my ears. I shifted a tad, but did not respond. "Melissa told me what happened. I'm sorry you heard about it how you did." She rubbed up and down my arm. "I don't blame you for being angry at me, but it would mean a lot if you came to dinner. Your friend, Ralph, is worried about you." I tensed. Figures Melissa would introduce him to my mother the first chance she got.

I slowly sat up and turned so I was facing the older woman. "I'm not mad at you." I stated and watched as my mother seemed to relax at that. "I just don't want to talk about it like Melissa does." Letting out a sigh, I shuffled out of bed and walked over to the other side, so I could help my mother up. She gladly took my hand, still seeming a bit worried. "It's okay mom." I reassured. "I just needed some time to myself."

She gave me a tight hug, squeezing me like if she did not she would lose me. "Okay sweetie." My mother cooed in my ear like she always did when I was sad or sick. She pulled away cupping my face in her hands. "Well, dinner is ready and Ralph has been wondering if you were joining us." A chuckle escaped her lips. "Poor deer is probably nervous being left alone with your sister. He even seemed scared to be alone with me." My mother's usual calm demeanor was returning as we walked to the dinning room.

Upon entering, I saw Melissa chatting Ralph's ear off and him looking only half interested in what she was saying. When he saw me, he waved and patted the seat next to him almost desperately like if I sat there my sister would shut up. I quickly took the seat, to which my sister sent me a glare. "So what did I miss?" I asked innocently, smirking towards Melissa.

"Not much." Ralph answered, turning all his attention to me. "I was just getting to know your family. They're real nice."

I could not help but laugh. "Come on. You don't have to lie." Melissa continued to glare at me, while my mother giggled as she set her napkin in her lap. "I lived with them, so I know the truth." I joked.

"You're no picnic either Jackson." Melissa snapped back. I could feel my face heat up from the childhood nickname she would use just to upset me.

"That's not my name and you know it." I muttered as I tried to hide my reddened face.

"Alright you two. That's enough." Our mother finally declared ended our bickering. "Now. Ralph, how have you been enjoying your time her so far?" She asked, ignoring Melissa and my grumbles. "I hope my children are treating you hospitably." She sent both of us a knowing glance as if to tell us she already knows the answer.

"I've been pretty tired from the trip, so I've spent most of my time in my room." I could not help but feel a tad guilty. "But, they've been welcoming." Ralph finished, grabbing a hold of my hand under the table and giving it a light squeeze. "You have a lovely home here also." He commented, not letting go of my hand. "Is your house back in home as nice as this one?"

My mother unfolded her napkin and placed it in her lap, a smile playing in her face. "Why, yes it is." She said grabbing a bottle of wine and pouring it in to her glass. "But, I think that's enough about our family. Tell me about yours."

I could feel a lump forming in my throat. Ralph, on the other hand, did not seem too fazed by her words. "My aunt and uncle are amazing." He said following my mother's example and spreading out his napkin as well. "They're not rich or anything, but they're happy and the kindest people you could ever meet." While he was talking, my mother nodded to the maid standing off to the side, to let her know she could start handing out the food. "My uncle is in the construction business and my aunt is working on a bakery." Not pausing when he was offered something, but giving a nod.

"Really?!" My mother and sister seemed perk up at the mention of anything relating to sweets.

"Yeah." I injected, digging my fork in to the meat on my plate. Ralph raised an eyebrow at me, coaxing me to continue, since I had to put my two sence in. "Her pastries are the best I've ever had." I replied, forcing food in my mouth so I would not have to answer any questions I might be asked.

Melissa picked at her salad like she could just imagine sinking her teeth in to a sugary delight. "Does she make any with a blueberry filling?" She asked hopefully.

I just shrugged as I shoved a fork full of food in my mouth, which my mother gave me a stern look for. Ralph on the other hand gave her a nod. "Almost any fruit filling you could imagine. She says it's all got the same principle and once you get one down it's easier to adapt to others." The way he talked about his family, it was easy to see how much he cared for them, even though his memory was lost. It gave me some hope in him remembering me the same way.

"You'll have to have her make me some when ever I visit Jack!" My sister exclaimed, folding her hands close to her face. "Which reminds me Jack." She said looking in my direction. "I'll be visiting soon, so tell that room mate of yours to behave himself." Our eyes locked, a hint of mischief in her gaze.

I swallowed my mouth full of food, took my napkin, and calmly whipped off my mouth. "I'll be sure to tell him to clean out the old dog crate on the patio."

"Jack!" My mother scolded. "Manners!"

"You little punk!" My sister butted in fuming. "How dare you speak to me like that! I'm your older sister and a lady!"

My poor mother began to rub her forehead, showing that she was not going to get any more involved in our fight than she already had been.

"I'm sorry." I mock apologized. "I forgot that I'm supposed to respect my elders." I shot back.

"If anyone belongs in a dog crate it's you and your misfit group you call friends! Especially the one you chose to become room-mates with! I mean really! What the Hell were you thinking?!" Melissa was almost shaking in anger.

"I was thinking it was a better change of pace than always having someone who thinks they're perfect!" I yelled back. "Now if you'll excuse me." I said calmly. "I'll be retiring to my room. The meal was lovely mother, thank you." I turned to Ralph. "You may stay if you like or I could walk you back to your room." I offered, still not looking at my fuming sister.

"I'll go back to my room too." He said awkwardly, before standing up. "Thank you for the meal Mrs. Merridew." My mother gave him a wave, her other hand still on her forehead. "Goodnight Melissa." Ralph offered before following me as I exited. "Jack!" He hissed and swatted my arm when we were out of earshot. "What the Hell was that?"

I rubbed my arm trying to sooth the small sting. "That was dinner with my family." I stated flatly, as we turned down the hall to our rooms. "That's usually how they end." I leaned against my bedroom door.

Ralph rolled his eyes. "Don't you think that's not healthy for her and your relationship?" I shrugged and he let out an exhausted sigh.

"So are you going to turn in or do you want to ditch this place and hang out on the beach, since it's cooler at night?" I asked giving him a smirk and wiggling an eyebrow.

Ralph looked up at me and let out a chuckle. "Well, if you insist, who am I to refuse." He played along as I pulled him through my room and lead him down to the beach. The sand forming to our feet with every step and the smell of salt water clouding our senses. "Wow." Ralph said breathlessly. "It's so pretty and..." He paused staring at the water in concentration. "It's familiar." He whispered.

"You want to go for a swim?" I asked remembering how much he use to love to swim.

"But I don't have my swimsuit on." He said blushing a bit as he watched me shed my shirt.

"So? Just swim in your pants. It shouldn't hurt them." I said walking to the edge of the sand and slowly submerging myself in the water.

Ralph thought about it for another second, but then threw off his own shirt and ran to the ocean, throwing himself in. He ended up splashing me in the process. When he popped his head up, I splashed him back, which caused a war. Fits of laughter erupted from both of us and we soon tired. "Hey Jack." Ralph said floating over to me on his back.

"Hmmm." I responded, my eyes closed.

"About your offer before." At that I flipped over and gave him my full attention. "I accept." He said, his head bumping in to my chest.

I smiled down at him, his emerald eyes looking at me with confusion, and I leaned down to kiss him. When I pulled back a light blush was on his cheeks.

"We forgot towels." Ralph said changing the subject, to which I could only laugh.

* * *

"Ahhhhchooo!" Maurice let out a loud sneeze, causing Bill, Robert, and I to all jump.

"Whoa man." Bill turned around pausing the game. "Are you alright?"

Maurice rubbed his nose on his sleeve. "Yeah, but I had an odd feeling someone was talking about me." He commented and the other two laughed at him.

"Who would be talking about you? I mean you'd think they'd have better things to talk about." Robert said, smirk on his face.

At that I piped in. "At least your ex has better things to DO now." Bill and Maurice winced. Robert sent a glare my way, but it did not faze me.

"Too soon Roger." Bill said patting Robert's shoulder. "You hurt his feelings."

"Well, his feelings need to toughen up." I replied flatly. "By the way when are you two leaving?" I asked becoming irritated at their constant presence.

"When you do." Bill laid back on the rug. "Oh wait, you like moved in since Jack left. Shouldn't you be babysitting Simon or something instead of this animal?" Robert smirked at that.

"Simon is more mature then him."

"Hey! I'm right here you two!" Maurice yelled. "I can hear everything you're saying!"

Everyone chimed in with: "Good!"

* * *

**_A/N: OMFG! I'm so sorry I've haven't updated in forever, but I've been dealing with a lot and needed to get it all together. Please forgive me! I tried to make up for it by making this chapter a bit longer than the others, plus a little extra at the end._**

**_autobotjolt101: Thanks for being so patient. I promise I'll try to update it more. Thank you for reviewing._**

**_CSIBakerstreet221b: It just got better for him! Yay!_**

**_Just Another Reviewer, BlueAnchor: Please a thousand times over forgive me! There is some fluff to make up for it._**

**_Socialstudiesgeek16: I'm so sorry and I hope you forgive me._**

**_Olissa: I feel honored that you lost sleep because of this story, and I'm sorry it took so long._**


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